4.4.3 Describe gender inequities regarding program management and access
to the services to be delivered and how this proposal will contribute to
minimizing these gender inequities (2 paragraphs).
Women in China often bear the brunt of social and financial burdens,
and all too often lack the power to control their own lives. Despite great
progress in primary education, for example, young girls are usually the first
to be taken out of school. Lacking equal access to education and positions
of responsibility, a large number of young rural women come to Chinese cities
in search of work, and many eventually become sex workers. Female sex workers
are particularly reluctant to demand access to medical help or demand condom
use from clients, which will be a challenge to both treatment and behavioral
interventions.
By the end of September 2004, the cumulative number of reported
HIV positive cases was 89,067, of which approximately 40% are among women
– representing a 50% increase compared to 2000. Because of this increasing
feminization of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, special attention will be paid to
gender inequities. Community-based and media campaigns will target stigma
and gender inequities and advocate for the protection of women’s rights
and access to health services.
In this project, female migrants and SW will be provided with
IEC, BCC, and STI services, including prevention and referral to other
services such as testing and treatment. International best practice suggests
that peer education is effective in disseminating information and encouraging
behavior change, and peer education will form a cornerstone of this proposal’s
outreach to women. IEC and BCC materials specific to women’s educational
level and behavioral vulnerabilities will be developed with women-friendly
images. IEC and BCC will also strive to improve women’s life skills, especially
for the condom use negotiation. Such peer education can help overcome inequities
by bringing medical service opportunities to vulnerable women in a comfortable,
non-threatening manner and situation. STI service-based outreach will be
utilized to increase health seeking behavior among women, especially female
sex workers and migrants. Outreach activities will be carefully planned
to target women afraid and reluctant to seek health services. VCT sites should also contribute to BCC and referring the targeted
women to the STI services. Specific services targeting women will be developed
and service providers who may have become accustomed to working with male
patients will be targeted for specific training about women's vulnerabilities.
This training will include identifying at-risk women as well as issues
such as women’s biological, social, and economic vulnerabilities to AIDS.
Wherever possible, community-based organizations or groups will
be utilized to deliver these services to target populations, especially
SW and female migrants, and government agencies and NGOs will also be encouraged
to work together to reduce gender inequality: The All-Chinese Women’s federation,
Chinese Family Planning Association, and China Youth League, as well as
international and domestic NGOs will be involved in this campaign. Female
leadership will be identified and actively promoted in this project. Women
from government and non-government agencies will play an important role
in program planning, implementing as well as the monitoring and evaluation.
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