Research shows that GBV is a manifestation of unequal gender relations and harmful gender norms that create unequal power dynamics between genders.[3] These norms assign strict gender roles to men as providers and women as care providers, prizing physical strength, aggression and sexual experience in men, and submissiveness, passivity and chastity in women.[4] This leads to acceptance of male dominance and violence against women, and others who do not conform to heteronormative* masculine “ideals,” including men who have sex with men and transgender people. There is a growing evidence that lesbian, bisexual and transgender women who do not conform to traditional norms of sexuality and gender representation face increased violence based on SOGI status. GBV functions as a mechanism to reinforce and sustain gender inequality. Regional research shows that perpetrators use violence to police women’s sexuality, punish same-sex sexual acts and target markers of femininity, including through acts aimed at mutilation of women and transgender people.[5] A multi-country study of male violence against women in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Papua New Guinea found that the most common self-reported motivation for rape was a sense of entitlement.[3]

Why is eliminating GBV critical to the HIV Response

GBV increases HIV risk directly and indirectly by limiting power to maintain healthy sexual relationships, refuse sex, negotiate condom use and through the impact of fear and trauma on help-seeking behaviors. HIV is associated with increased experience of violence: People living with HIV and Key Populations** experience high levels of GBV. This has grave impacts on their rights and wellbeing, and undermines the HIV response. Safety from violence is an essential foundation for achieving gender equality and realizing the right to the highest attainable standard of health. GBV and gender inequality are key drivers in the HIV epidemic. Without addressing GBV we cannot meet global commitments to achieve gender equality and empower women and girls, ensure all people enjoy safe and healthy lives and end AIDS by 2030. Achieving these ambitious targets will require accelerated efforts and increased investment to better understand and respond to the intersecting impacts of GBV and HIV. * Heteronormative views/heteronormativity refers to assumptions that men and women fall into traditional gender roles (including that intimate partnerships are between a man and a woman, not people of the same-sex). ** UNAIDS Terminologies Guidelines 2015 defines Key Populations as population groups who are key to the HIV epidemic’s dynamics or key to the response. Key Populations are distinct from vulnerable populations, which are subject to societal pressures or social circumstances that may make them more vulnerable to exposure to infections, including HIV. In Asia Pacific region, Key Populations are: sex workers; people who use injecting drug; transgender persons; men who have sex with men; and people living with HIV. The WHO Consolidated Guidelines on HIV prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care identify ending GBV as a critical enabler for ending HIV.[6] WHAT CAUSES GBV? W