The UNGASS, Gender and Women's Vulnerability to HIV/AIDS in Latin America and the Caribbean

This paper will discuss the effect of female and male gender roles, power relations and sexual behaviour on the spread of HIV/AIDS in the Latin American and Caribbean Region (LAC), specifically exploring women's vulnerability to the epidemic. The issues of violence, commercial sex-work and sex tourism,human trafficking, population displacement and crisis will also be addressed in relation to women and men's susceptibilities to HIVAIDS. The discussion will be situated within the framework of the commitments made at the 2001 UNGASS, and their critical implications for the national, regional and international response to the epidemic.