Human Rights and the Sexual and Reproductive Health of Women Living with HIV: A Literature Review

12 Pages Posted: 24 Aug 2017

See all articles by Shubha Kumar

Shubha Kumar

University of Southern California - Department of Preventive Medicine

Sofia Gruskin

University of Southern California Institute on Inequalities in Global Health; University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine; University of Southern California Gould School of Law

Rajat Khosla

World Health Organization

Manjulaa Narasimhan

World Health Organization (WHO) - Department of Reproductive Health and Research

Date Written: December 2015

Abstract

Introduction: Even as the number of women living with HIV around the globe continues to grow, realization of their sexual and reproductive health and human rights remains compromised. The objective of this study was to review the current state of knowledge on the sexual and reproductive health and human rights of women living with HIV to assess evidence and gaps.

Methods: Relevant databases were searched for peer-reviewed and grey literature. Search terms included a combination of MeSH terms and keywords representing women, HIV/AIDS, ART, human rights, sexual and reproductive health. We included both qualitative and quantitative literature published in English, French, or Spanish between July 2011 and December 2014.

Results and Discussion: The search yielded 2228 peer-reviewed articles, of which 40 met the inclusion criteria in the final review. The grey literature search yielded 2186 documents of which seven met the inclusion criteria in the final review. Of the articles and documents reviewed, not a single peer-reviewed article described the explicit implementation of rights in programming, and only two documents from the grey literature did so. With one possible exception, no articles or documents were found which addressed rights comprehensively, or addressed the majority of relevant rights (i.e. equality; non-discrimination; participation; privacy and confidentiality; informed decision making; availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality (3AQ) of services individually or in their totality; and accountability). Additional findings indicate that the language of rights is used most often to describe the apparent neglect or violation of human rights and what does exist only addresses a few rights in the context of a few areas within sexual and reproductive health.

Conclusions: Findings from this review suggest the need to better integrate rights into interventions, particularly with attention to provider training, service delivery, raising awareness and capacity building among the community of women living with HIV. Further research is urgently needed to support the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women living with HIV, to identify what works and to inform future programming and policies to improve care, treatment and support for women living with HIV.

Keywords: Human Rights, Sexual Health, Reproductive Health, Women Living with HIV, Healthcare

JEL Classification: I14, I18, K33

Suggested Citation

Kumar, Shubha and Gruskin, Sofia and Khosla, Rajat and Narasimhan, Manjulaa, Human Rights and the Sexual and Reproductive Health of Women Living with HIV: A Literature Review (December 2015). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3025168 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3025168

Shubha Kumar (Contact Author)

University of Southern California - Department of Preventive Medicine ( email )

Los Angeles, CA
United States

Sofia Gruskin

University of Southern California Institute on Inequalities in Global Health ( email )

2001 N. Soto Street
Los Angeles, CA 90032

HOME PAGE: http://globalhealth.usc.edu

University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine ( email )

2001 N. Soto Street
Los Angeles, CA 90032
United States

University of Southern California Gould School of Law ( email )

699 Exposition Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90089
United States

Rajat Khosla

World Health Organization ( email )

20 Avenue Appia
Geneva 27, CH-1211
Switzerland

Manjulaa Narasimhan

World Health Organization (WHO) - Department of Reproductive Health and Research ( email )

Switzerland

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