"Zero Tolerance: Stop the Violence Against Women and Children, Stop HIV/AIDS," Global AIDS Alliance: Programs aimed at curbing violence directed at women and children are moving too slowly, according to a report released Aug. 1 by the GAA. Women who have experienced violence might be three times as likely as women who have not experienced violence to contract HIV, the report says. In addition, the increased risk of HIV transmission during unprotected forced or coerced sex is compounded by HIV/AIDS policies that do not take into account the "realities facing women and girls," according to the report. The report says that to address the role that violence against women and children plays in the HIV/AIDS pandemic, there must be political commitment, the mobilization of resources, legal and judicial reform, education and health sector reform, mass marketing for social change and community mobilization (GAA, "Zero Tolerance: Stop the Violence Against Women and Children, Stop HIV/AIDS," 8/1).

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