On March 8, Louise Arbour said: “In many societies, women's sexual and reproductive rights are not adequately guaranteed, jeopardizing women's health and privacy. The complex inter-relationships between violations of women's human rights combine to make women increasingly vulnerable to HIV. These violations are rooted in the discrimination that women experience simply because they are women. The reality of these widespread violations demonstrates that States have failed to meaningfully implement the obligations they have accepted to protect women's human rights."

Last week, Yakin Erturk, Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, said that the number of women living with HIV had increased in every region of the world, and women's vulnerability to the pandemic remained largely rooted in pervasive gender inequality and discrimination, which was often manifested in multiple forms of violence. Her report (E/CN.4/2005/72), which summarizes the activities of the Special Rapporteur in 2004, contains a study of the intersection of violence against women and HIV/AIDS. It analyses the interconnections between violence against women and HIV/AIDS, considering violence both as a cause and a consequence of HIV. It examines how the various types of violence to which women are subject, from the domicile to the transnational arena, increase the risks of transmission of HIV; the ways in which stigma, discrimination, and gender-based violence are experienced by women living with HIV, as well as the obstacles to women's access to medical care and justice. It notes that States have yet to create integrated and effective responses dealing with gender inequality as the root cause and consequence of the gender-specific manifestations of the disease. The report ends with recommendations for an effective and integrated strategy to fight the spread of the deadly disease in the context of the intersections between violence against women and HIV under five broad categories: gender-based violence; the gender dimensions of HIV/AIDS; women's access to health care; empowerment of women; and the global coalition against HIV/AIDS.

Here at the HRC, the resolution on HIV-AIDS lead by Poland is under informal consultations right now and it needs the support of the women's movement, especially from Latin-Americans, Asian and African countries. It contains a paragraph that is being contested by the usual suspects Iran, Sudan, Pakistan, China, Egypt, USA, and of course the Vatican, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Dominican Republic and Ecuador, despite the report presented by Yakin Erturk and their legal international obligations.

The para. OP 5 proposed by Sweden: Urges all States to integrate of their national strategies on HIV/AIDS interventions with sexual and reproductive health and the promotion of reproductive rights as well as the right to have control and decide freely and responsibly on matters related to their sexuality, free of coercion, discrimination and violence.

The United States insist on saying that people become infected with HIV/AIDS as a result of infidelity by their partners, so they are stressing the "faithfulness to one partner".

Some GRULAC countries are betraying the Mexico City Consensus adopted in the regional preparatory meeting for Beijing Plus 10 where the uses of sexual and reproductive rights are very explicit (para.6xi).

On the Violence against Women resolution the same countries are opposing paragraph 10. which: Also urges Governments, UN bodies, programmes and specialized agencies, and international and non-governmental organizations to effectively promote and protect women's and girls' human rights, including sexual and reproductive rights, in the context of HIV/AIDS to lessen their vulnerability to HIV infection and to the impact of AIDS, as described or elaborated in the Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights.

Informal negotiations to finish this resolution will be happening this week and the governments are asking the Canadian chair to give them a definition on sexual rights. Neither paragraph 96 on the Beijing Platform nor the Cairo documents or the Beijing Plus 10 declaration are enough for conservative governments deny women's rights.

The other resolution of concern is on extra judicial, arbitrary and summary executions This is the only CHR resolution that contains a specific reference to sexual orientation. Because these states do not want any reference to gender identity, the fight now is between deleting the whole list of grounds or keeping the list with or without GI references.

More news later.