What Works for Women and Girls

ecognize women’s property rights and secure adequate access to justice for women living withor affected by HIV (COHRE, 2009).Moving Forward Requires Access for Women and Transformation of LegalFrameworksWomen’s access to legal services is critical. Few women have access to legal advice, and currentprovision of services is often dependent on volunteers or paralegals with limited knowledgeof women’s rights. These networks train paralegals in the fundamentals of property law anddispute resolution. If legal services are available through health services accessed by womenand people living with HIV, more of those in need will have access to legal services (Kalla andCohen, 2007). The tremendous need for HIV-related legal services in some countries has beenwell documented (Mukasa and Gathumbi, 2008).In many countries, reform of constitutional, statutory, and customary laws is needed toguarantee equal rights for women. Constitutional reform is underway in countries such asKenya, Namibia, and Tanzania, providing an opportunity to change women’s rights. Ensuringthat laws are consistent with constitutional change is critical. Protective legal frameworksshould encompass inheritance, marriage, division of property upon divorce, land use andownership, and access to housing. Many organizations are working to change written codesusing the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) as aguide. In Nepal, for example, women’s groups pressured leading political parties to protect theright of women to own and inherit property, and this led to a new law, passed in 2002, whichgives a wife equal right to her husband’s property immediately after marriage. While somecustomary laws support the equal rights of women, others are discriminatory. In Kenya, forexample, customary laws that undermine efforts to improve statutory legislation are allowedby the constitution. Changing customary laws requires efforts to change community attitudesand practices. Furthermore, the constitutions in some countries are progressive and the issueis to challenge statutes that no longer comply with the constitutions.Efforts to promote women’s legal rights should ensure gender-transformative legislation,the promotion of judicial capacity and effective litigation and advancing public awareness (Kimet al., 2008; ARASA, 2009). While numerous countries have constitutions that recognizewomen’s equality and have ratified international and regional human rights treaties, nationallegislation is not enforced or is superseded by customary law. In these cases, strategic legislation,such as the lawsuit by TAC in South Africa to require provision of ARVs can advance therights of people living with HIV.Governments need to establish a gender-sensitive legal framework as a key element ofHIV/AIDS policy and programming; one that upholds the human rights of women, includingreform of laws and policies that place women at a disadvantage to men. A model legal frameworkfor women’s rights in the context of HIV/AIDS has been recently developed by theCanadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network (http://www.aidslaw.ca/EN/womensrights/english.htm),and includes four modules related to strengthening the enabling environment: (1) sexualviolence, (2) domestic violence, (3), family issues, and (4) property issues. Current efforts toWHAT WORKS FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS313