Kathmandu, March 9:

Highlighting the need to tackle Violence Against Women (VAW) and HIV/AIDS jointly, the 97th International Women’s Day organising committee, Asia Pacific Alliance for Combating HIV/AIDS Nepal and the National Coalition against Gender Based Violence, today launched a book and campaign ‘Intersection of Two Current Pandemics: VAW and HIV and AIDS’.

Launching the book, Urmila Aryal, Minister of State for Women, Children and Social Welfare, said: “Forms of violence against women vary in different cultures. One of the ways to combat is through equal property rights, which boosts women psychologically to move ahead in life.”

Aryal, however, added that educated women are yet to be convinced about these rights.

Sabin Shrestha, presenting issues and challenges of VAW and HIV intersection, said trends and actual research indicate that forced sexual initiation exacerbates the vulnerability of women to HIV exponentially.

Sibesh Chandra Regmi, country director, Action Aid Nepal, said that the research is an attempt to gauge the intersections of the two pandemics.