The HIV epidemic poses a unique risk to the education, economic advancement, health, and rights of women and girls around the world. Globally, 53% of people living with HIV are women, yet the most recent data from Funders Concerned About AIDS (FCAA) found only $55 million USD (8%) in HIV-related philanthropy supported them in 2022. This equates to just $2.7 per woman living with HIV.

Behind this data lies a deeply gendered story. Power imbalances, a lack of access to care, and stigma make women and girls more vulnerable to HIV. In an effort to shed more light on this issue and collaborate on solutions, funders and activists will come together at the Moving Money, Building Movements Convening in advance of the 15^th AWID International Forum this year. But first, we have homework to do.

Examples of inequity

Only 55% of partnered women make their own decisions about sex, contraceptive use, and health care. Without the autonomy to negotiate safe sex, or access sexual and reproductive health supplies like condoms, women are at higher risk of HIV transmission. Such power imbalances play a role in gender-based violence. In sub-Saharan Africa, women who have experienced intimate partner violence are 3.2 times more likely to acquire HIV than those who have not.

Access to care, or lack thereof, raises additional concerns. Restrictions on abortion, which are growing in many countries, are leading to closures among reproductive health clinics. This further limits access to sexual and reproductive healthcare, including HIV testing and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Game-changing innovations—like the recently developed twice-yearly injection of PrEP, which is 100% effective at preventing HIV among women—cannot effectively end the epidemic if those who need it most are unable to get it.

Stigma is yet another factor that puts women at higher risk.For example,Transgender women, who face discrimination and unequal access to healthcare around the globe, are 20 times more likely to acquire HIV compared to other adults. In addition, Transgender women may migrate or engage in sex work as a strategy to cope with the discrimination they face, compounding their risk. Intersecting stigma and discrimination further drives women’s’ vulnerability to HIV; as they become more marginalised, access to healthcare becomes increasingly out of reach. 

As funders, we cannot afford to ignore the link between HIV and the fight for gender equality.

What does feminist HIV funding look like?

Our organisations, the Stephen Lewis Foundation and the Red Umbrella Fund are diverse in how, where, and why we fund the HIV response. Yet, we share the recognition that a feminist approach to funding addresses needs far outside of traditional HIV services. It requires acknowledging the diverse and intersectional needs of varied communities, from grandmothers to sex workers and beyond.

Take for example, Esther Charles a widow in Tanzania who faced stigmatisation because of her HIV status. When her husband died from an AIDS-related illness, her in-laws attempted to take ownership of her house. Facing the possibility of homelessness, she sought help from a community-based organisation, The Centre for Widows and Children Assistance (CWCA). The group, which receives funding from the Stephen Lewis Foundation, was able to provide legal advice and helped Esther file a case in court. She won that case and is still living in her house today.

In the Caribbean, flexible funding and capacity building have empowered women like Denise Carr. A former sex worker in Suriname, Denise was able to grow her small, sex worker-led organisation with core, flexible funding from the Red Umbrella Fund. The Suriname Collection of Sex Workers (SUCOS) has leveraged funding to launch an awareness campaign, offer peer support groups, conduct peer-to-peer outreach to distribute condoms, and provide care packages, meals, food vouchers, and rent support to sex worker communities. The Red Umbrella Fund also supported SUCOS as a small, unregistered organisation, and provided peer-led accompaniment to build its capacity to manage grants and provide services. After years of leadership development, Denise is now co-chair of Red Umbrella Fund’s International Steering Committee.

A call to action for funders    

Time and again, organisations like CWCA and SUCOS tell us they need funding that is both long-term and flexible to provide the holistic services women need such as educational programs, mental health care, social support, fair pay for community health workers, access to clean water and food, and employment services.

They also need funding for advocacy. Communities are advocating for their lives, but they often do so without the benefit of funding. The vast majority of resources are directed toward services that are often controlled by larger organisations that make sub-grants. Increased funding for advocacy can be a game-changer for women, empowering them to become champions for their own communities.

Supporting the people and places most impacted by HIV will not only end the epidemic, but will increase access to healthcare, racial and gender justice, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and democracy. With 4,000 women and adolescent girls still contracting HIV every week, we cannot afford to wait. We must learn, and act swiftly. The health and futures of millions of women depend on it.

This article is part of a series leading up to the Moving Money, Building Movements convening. Taking place one day before AWID’s 15th International Forum, the convening is for funders and activists to come together to connect and strategize. Please note the views in this article do not necessarily represent the views of all the organising partners of Moving Money, Building Movements.

Meg French is the Executive Director of the Stephen Lewis Foundation (SLF).  Meg has previously worked with the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) for 17 years where she coordinated advocacy, fundraising and public engagement strategies focussed on newborn and maternal health and survival.

Alexis Wilson Briggs is the Deputy Coordinator of Red Umbrella Fund. Alexis is a former sex worker, a prison abolitionist, and a queer feminist. Compelled by her sex work experience and the over-policing and incarceration of her communities, Alexis has spent over twenty years seeking to abolish prisons and end enforcement of poverty-based crimes through community activism. She currently works at the intersection of philanthropy, feminism, sex work, LGBTQIA+, harm reduction, and digital security.