Positive Women Together in Action

Women Together is an organization that began operating in Swaziland in March 2003 as a response to the increasing need for support to HIV positive women. Although by this time Swaziland had several interventions and programmes to address TB and HIV/AIDS issues, there were no interventions targeted at addressing the plight of women in society. In a bid to curb the spread of HIV, VCT centres were set up. A majority of those people who responded to the VCT campaigns were women and most of them tested positively. Consequently, those women who disclosed their status among their family members and communities at large were then subjected to discrimination and stigmatization. This was exacerbated by that women are relegate to an inferior status in Swazi society than that of men in all spheres of life; socially, economically, politically and legally. Women Together therefore seeks to offer support and education to women living with HIV/AIDS in order for them to be able to stand for their rights and improve their lives economically and otherwise.