The Office on Women’s Health (OWH) has developed the HIV Prevention Toolkit: A Gender-Responsive Approach as a resource designed for health departments, clinical staff, academics, program planners, managers, and community providers who are involved in HIV prevention programs for women and adolescent girls.
The Toolkit is composed of six sections: sections 1 through 4 provide background on gender as a social determinant of health and the impact of gender on HIV risk and vulnerability. Sections 5 and 6 explain how to conduct a gender analysis, such as examining gender-based differences in the patterns of HIV incidence, modes of transmission, and access to treatment and care, in order to integrate these factors in HIV prevention programming. Gender disparities are discussed across four domains, including gender norms, gender roles, power and decision-making, and access to and control of resources. These domains are used to guide HIV prevention programs in conducting gender analysis and developing gender-responsive programs.
The Toolkit also comes with a companion Training Guide, which includes a Facilitator’s Manual and Participant’s Manual. These materials offer everything needed to run a three-day training for health department staff and other organizations implementing HIV programs. The Facilitator’s Manual provides talking points and slides for each day of the training. The Participant’s Manual contains the same slides and handouts for every day of training. By the end of the training, participants will be prepared to design and deliver gender-responsive programming.