PHILOSOPHY AND PRAXIS

Gender inequalities are still visibly large in our society. Women and girls are seen as the very poor of the human society. This is evident when we examine the average of the three component indices of: life expectancy, education, and income. In Nigeria for instance, Gender-related Development Index (GDI) value indicates women’s low status and poor access to basic health services. According to United Nations’ statistics, women perform one-third of the world’s work, but they earn only one-tenth of the world’s income, they are two-thirds of the world’s illiterates, and own less than one-hundredth of the world’s property. The emergence of the HIV/AIDS epidemic has defamed the already fragile esteem of women in that women rank the highest in HIV/AIDS prevalence and infections statistics in Africa. HIV has been regarded as the epidemics of women – giving rise to the Feminization of the HIV epidemics in Africa. Studies allege that women in Africa are substantially affected by the HIV epidemic to a large extent due to gender roles prevalent in the society. These and more other factors prevent women from making essential decisions about their health and lives and national development. This paper therefore, will investigate the cultural factors that expose women to HIV/AIDS infection more than men. It will also suggest possible areas of intervention and solutions to emancipate women from this stigma.

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