Ashley Judd Pleads in Senate for Vulnerable Women

WASHINGTON, DC, June 23, 2005 —In her debut appearance before Congress today, actress Ashley Judd made an impassioned plea to do more to protect vulnerable girls and women in developing countries from violence, sexual abuse and HIV infection.

Even though young African women are up to six times more likely to become infected with HIV than their male peers, Ms. Judd said, little, if anything, is being done to address the problems that put young women at such high risk.

Ms. Judd, a member of the PSI Board of Directors and global ambassador of its YouthAIDS initiative, testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at the invitation of its chairman, Sen. Richard Lugar. Other witnesses were Rep. Pete Visclosky; Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, National Institute of Health; Dr. Helene Gayle, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and Dr. Seth Berkeley, International AIDS Vaccine Initiative.

Ms. Judd recounted the horrendous experiences of a group of 10 Zambian girls aged 15-19 who told PSI staff in Zambia that four of them had been raped by men they knew, and only one of them reported it to the police. Five others reported how they were accosted, or barely managed to escape sexual violence.

"What can we conclude from this group of young women who shared their stories of abuse?" Ms. Judd asked the committee. "We can conclude that most of us in this room have no idea how difficult life is for young women in Africa and elsewhere in the developing world. Even though sexual violence happens in all corners of our planet, women in developing countries are at extremely high risk of abuse. Social norms and economic pressure are often at the root of the problem. Recent research confirms that these young women's stories are not isolated cases."

Ms. Judd also described a common phenomenon known as "cross generational sex," in which girls as young as 15 are encouraged to seek financial or material gain by entering sexual relationships with men a generation or more older than them.

"While these relationships are fundamentally transactional, this is not commercial sex," Ms. Judd testified. "These are young women — in both urban and rural settings — who have been persuaded by both peers and adults that having an older sponsor and sexual partner is an acceptable and common way to acquire fashionable items or meet basic needs. Rarely do these young women seriously consider the possibility of becoming infected with HIV. But the risks are very real. Already at increased biological risk, such cross generational relationships are fueling the AIDS epidemic."

"I am sure this problem of cross-generational sex cuts across the politics that color the current and highly polarized debate on how best to combat AIDS in Africa," said Ms. Judd. "People of all political and religious persuasions are deeply disturbed by the abuse of young women. But if that is the case, why is nothing being done to address these problems? ... I believe it is because the problem is so pervasive, so deeply rooted, and so long standing that we simply don't know where or how to start."

Ms. Judd proposed four ways of starting to address these problems:

• Acknowledge that preventing AIDS among young women will entail reversing the social norms which support their abuse. Societies must reject violence against women, as well as social norms which encourage young women to exchange sex for financial or material support. The Global Fund, thanks to its unique country level structures, could play an important role coordinating local partners.

• Acknowledge that the transformation of these unhealthy social norms must come from within. This does not mean that we should stand by idly waiting for something to happen. It means that international organizations and donors must work hand in hand with indigenous groups that are prepared to fight for change in their own communities. The African Union will be a key partner in this struggle, and they are eager to begin work.

• Congress should insist on legislation that would tie future foreign aid to a country's demonstrated commitment to enforcing laws that protect women from all forms of sexual violence, including statutory rape.

• National campaigns promoting healthier gender norms and role models for men should be launched throughout Africa and in many other places in the developing world.

"Having an AIDS vaccine would be of great benefit to women of all ages because it could reduce their chances of becoming infected," concluded Ms. Judd. "As there can be no vaccine to prevent the abuse of women, however, there is nothing more important in the struggle against this disease than reversing destructive social norms that endanger women across Africa and in other developing countries."

The small Senate hearing room was filled to capacity and dozens more young congressional staffers waited outside during the hearing and greeted Ms. Judd as she left.

During her day on Capitol Hill, Ms. Judd also had private meetings with Sen. Lugar and Sens. Mitch McConnell and Patrick Leahy.

— David J. Olson, PSI/Washington

See full transcript of Ashley Judd's testimony

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Ashley Judd appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chaired by Senator Richard Lugar and made an impassioned plea to do more to protect vulnerable girls and women in developing countries from violence, sexual abuse and HIV infection.