The United States Government is committed to bringing relief and help to the men, women and children who suffer from HIV/AIDS. In 2003, Congress approved the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief ("PEPFAR"). PEPFAR authorizes 15 billion dollars of U.S. assistance over five years for the care, treatment and prevention of worldwide HIV/AIDS.

PEPFAR matters to IJM because victims of rape and sexual assault are at high risk of contracting HIV/AIDS. Sexual violence, degradation and unprosecuted rape are so common in AIDS-burdened countries that these injustices have become significant risk factors for contracting the disease.

PEPFAR does not currently provide funding for the prosecution of sexual assault or the creation of effective and accessible judicial systems. Many poor countries lack the judicial capacity to address sexual violence. PEPFAR's health campaign would better protect victims of sexual violence and degradation from the spread of HIV/AIDS if it included funding for police, judges, lawyers and social workers to stop the self-perpetuating cycle of sexual violence and the spread of the disease.

For more information, visit www.pepfar.gov, and see "In Africa, Rape as a Risk Factor."

Contact Your Senator

Contact Your Congressman

• Name
• School
• Interest in/connection with HIV/AIDS relief, sexual assault, and PEPFAR
• Praise PEPFAR and the bipartisan shown by Congress through its nearly unanimous approval of the bill

• Praise the work of Congress through PEPFAR in implementing the most diverse prevention, treatment, and care strategy in the world
• Praise Congress for directing more than 80% of PEPFAR's funds to national organizations and thereby empowering local agencies to fight HIV/AIDS
• Urge your representative to support the full, $15 billion of approved funding for PEPFAR before its completion in 2008
• Urge that PEPFAR be extended 5 additional years
• Tell your representative that an international consensus has emerged linking the violence and degradation of women and girls as key factors in the rapid spread of HIV among them
• Urge the inclusion of funds for PEPFAR to increase judicial capacity
• Urge the inclusion of funds for PEPFAR for sexual assault prosecutions

• Thank your representative for their time
• Thank your representative for their attentiveness to the global AIDS pandemic and the high susceptibility of victims of sexual assault to this disease
• Ask to be kept informed on the steps the government decides to pursue

• Praise PEPFAR and the bipartisan effort shown by Congress through its nearly unanimous approval of the bill
• Urge your representative to authorize the $15 billion of approved funds be appropriated to PEPFAR before its completion in 2008
• Urge that PEPFAR be extended for an additional 5 years
• Mention that an international consensus has emerged linking the violence and degradation of women and girls as key factors in the rapid spread of HIV among them
• Encourage Congress to broaden PEPFAR to address violence against women and girls
• Urge the inclusion of funds for PEPFAR to increase judicial capacity
• Urge the inclusion of funds for PEPFAR for sexual assault prosecutions
• Thank your representative for their time