Sexual and reproductive health for HIV-positive women and adolescent girls: manual for trainers and programme managers.

Sexual and reproductive rights apply to all individuals regardless of HIV status. Yet more often than not the rights of HIV-positive women and adolescent girls are not recognized or given priority. Gender inequality and some social and cultural practices often tightly restrict and sometimes control the decisions that women and girls can make regarding their sexual and reproductive choices. Due to poverty HIV-related stigma and discrimination the access of HIV-positive women and adolescent girls to critically needed information and services is severely curtailed with dire consequences. Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services for HIV-positive women and adolescent girls are limited in scope access and quality--where they exist at all. This is due in part to the low priority of such services itself a manifestation of gender inequality and stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV as well as to deficiencies in health services delivery and legal or policy barriers constraining access to care. (excerpt)