WITH 6,900 Jamaican women already diagnosed with the HIV virus, Jamaica Aids Support for Life (JASL) has found it necessary to launch a manual aimed at empowering women to protect themselves.

The manual, which was officially launched on Monday at the JASL offices in Kingston, will also serve to equip community activists and non-governmental organisations to improve the impact of their programmes for HIV prevention and mitigation.

The content examines the HIV prevention challenges, such as the biological differences between men and women, as well as the social differences where women may lack power in their sexual relationships.

The manual also captures the stories of women living with HIV/AIDS, who were afraid to come forward to freely speak about the experience.

As one HIV positive woman who was quoted on the cover of the manual noted. “If all the women die, what will happen, the end of the human race. We need to do something about ourselves”.

On the cover of the manual is a picture of popular actress Audrey Reid. The actress, who is in support of empowering women to protect themselves against the disease, said she pledged to use her face and voice to promote positive messages in the fights against HIV and AIDS.

“I am very humbled that my image was used to grace this manual, which is such an excellent educational tool,” Reid said.

“I want to thank you for using me, and I am still available to use my voice and my face to enhance whatever you are doing here for the Jamaica Aids Support,” Reid added.

Lovelette Byfield, director of prevention in the Ministry of Health, pointed out that in Jamaica, girls in the age group 13-15 were at greater risk of being infected with HIV than boys of the same age. This, Byfield said, was largely due to the fact that some of these girls were involved in relationships with men who are older.

Against this background, Byfield commended JASL for the manual, noting that there has been the need for tools that can help to provide skills and empower women to do a lot more.

“We recognise that the epidemic has been impacting on young girls, owing to the economic situation that they find themselves,” she said.

“There is an increasing practice of commercial and transactional sex owing to the fact that they are getting into sexual relations in order to survive, and this is creating a younger cohort of women getting infected,” she added.

Author of the manual and senior programme officer at JASL Dr Nesha Haniff explained that in the manual there are four scenarios, capturing real-life experiences of persons living with the disease. These scenarios are presented to women in communities, who must then come to some conclusion about their lives or find a solution to the problem.

“The purpose of the manual is for dialogue between the community as well as reflection and thinking about solution and, thirdly, what the actual intervention would be,” she said.

Everett Allen, operation specialist of Inter-American Development Bank, which is funding the project, said the voices of women who come from a variety of circumstances and socio-economic background are clearly heard in this manual.

“We note that in developing this manual, the painful and life-changing experiences of women living with HIV/AIDS form the basis for the scenarios that are presented for intense discussions in the manual,” she said.

The manual, she said, also uses highly interactive methods so that women are not only informed, but, through wide-ranging discussions, can become aware of the power that they have to make choices that will protect them from HIV.

Ian McKnight, chairman of the board of Governors at JASL, noted that only a limited number of the manuals were printed, although the aim was to ensure that the entire Jamaica had access.

“We want women to use it, but we are also forcing men to stand up and listen,” he said.

He also commended Audrey Reid for her commitment to making a mark on HIV. “I want to pay tribute to her because not many people would want to have their image associated with HIV,” he said.