Health and reproductive rights, HIV and the Protocol to the African Charter on the rights of women in Africa

Abstract

The overarching goal of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Women’s Protocol or Protocol) is to bring about gender equality in Africa, the converse of which is fuelling the spread of HIV on the continent. The Protocol includes corresponding and comprehensive measures to be taken by states in order to promote, protect, and fulfil women’s human rights in Africa. It addresses many of the root causes of the disproportionate spread of HIV among young women in Africa, such as sexual violence and early marriage, as well as factors that exacerbate the effects of HIV infection on the enjoyment of human rights, such as the denial of inheritance rights (article 21).