Wednesday, December 12th, 2007
So often in our world we tend to think of strength as a quality that arises from a place of firm determination and a will to succeed no matter the cost. Even though we might want to think of a strong woman as being defined in this way, what really makes a woman confident is her capacity for listening to her true self and being able to call upon her feminine wisdom to any situation that may arise. A woman does not need to step into an assertive role or act like a man in order to be effective at what she does—she simply needs to get in touch with her insight and sense of compassion to truly demonstrate the depth of her strength.
Listening to the feminine side of ourselves may not seem easy at first for this type of energy is something that is often overlooked in many aspects of our everyday lives. If we can connect with this part of who we are, however, we will find that there is an unlimited wellspring of strength available to us. Our capacity to tap into our intuition and listen to our inner guides, to take into account the needs of those around us, and to view a situation with compassion and love are ways that we can show the world the true power that is part of our feminine nature. When we learn to integrate this source of strength into our daily tasks and decision-making, we will find that we can be more flexible and open to the things that happen around us and more receptive to new ideas. Not only will we see the world in a different light, but we will truly start to realize the potential for this form of energy to both empower ourselves and those around us.
As we cultivate our feminine energy we can redefine the meaning of strength. By embracing our feminine power as something that is strong in its own right, we are able to use it with true assurance and determination and draw upon what truly belongs to us.
Tags: Compassion, Decision-Making, Determination, Feminine Energy, Self Improvement, Success, Wisdom, Women
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Saturday, December 8th, 2007
“Women must not be regarded as victims. They are, in many places, leading the way forward. In communities scattered around the globe, women and men are taking action to increase knowledge about the disease, expand access to sexual and reproductive health and educational services, increase women’s ability to negotiate safer sexual relations, combat gender discrimination and violence and increase access to female-controlled prevention methods such as the female condom.” Women and HIV/AIDS: Confronting the Crisis.
Women are fighting both a virus and systemic discrimination in trying to overcome the threat of HIV/AIDS. Across the world, they face a number of circumstances which increase their risk of HIV infection in gender-specific ways. Many women are exposed to sexual violence and coerced sex inside and outside marriage, including through harmful traditional practices such as genital mutilation, early marriage, and wife inheritance. They frequently lack information on and access to HIV prevention measures and to health care as well as to support and medication after infection. They are denied property and inheritance rights, employment and access to finance – denials which make them dependent on men – and are frequently excluded from participation in policy-making and implementation, including on issues which primarily affect them.
However women are increasingly campaigning effectively for their rights. Grassroots activism by women, including in particular women living with HIV/AIDS, has grown for years with some striking successes – and in the face of a multitude of impediments.
The HIV pandemic is increasingly viewed as a strongly gendered health, development and human rights issue. It is a preventable disease yet some 40 million people live with the virus and the proportion of women affected is increasing.
The evidence below makes clear that:
- Violence against women and other forms of gender-based discrimination increase women’s likelihood of contracting HIV;
- Gender-based discrimination also hinders women’s access to prevention methods and to treatment;
- A comprehensive rights-based approach is needed to effectively tackle the pandemic, its causes and consequences;
- Agendas for an effective response to HIV/AIDS agreed by the international community – including UNAIDS human rights guidelines, the Cairo Programme of Action, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the Millennium Development Goals and others – have yet to be implemented effectively;
- International cooperation is needed to tackle the global inequities surrounding HIV prevalence and lack of access to treatment.
Prevention of HIV/AIDS requires a multi-pronged approach which combines basic education, health education, social empowerment, provision of protective measures such as condoms, implementation of a program of antiretroviral provision, prevention of violence against women and promotion and protection of human rights generally. The United Nations Secretary-General’s Task Force on Women, Girls and HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa identified three key factors that contribute to the greater vulnerability of the sub-region’s women and girls to HIV infection: the culture of silence surrounding sexuality; exploitative transactional and intergenerational sex; and violence within relationships with boys and men. This suggests that preventing HIV in southern Africa (and undoubtedly elsewhere) requires educational measures, the economic and social empowerment of women and girls and measures to address the different forms of gender-based violence.
Tags: AIDS, HIV, Human Rights, Sex Education, Women
Posted in Writing and Speaking | No Comments »
