Washington, D.C. is facing a modern epidemic, with the highest HIV/AIDS rate in the United States. In its response to this crisis, the D.C. government has failed to recognize the way policies, and structural factors have interacted to increase women’s vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. As a result, women have one of the fastest growing rates of HIV infections in D.C. Yet, the District has no integrated and multi-sectoral HIV Policy and its Care and Prevention plans lack a concerted government strategy to address the HIV/AID crisis for women.

This human rights report, entitled A Capitol Offense: The Gender Dimensions of Washington D.C.’s HIV/AIDS Crisis, was written with the goal of beginning a dialogue in the District about women’s unique needs in the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the way in which a human rights framework can best address the current gender gaps in District’s approach to HIV/AIDS. The report is the result of a partnership between The Women’s Collective – an organization run by and for HIV-positive women in the District – working on the front lines of the HIV/AIDS crisis, and the International Women’s Human Rights Clinic at Georgetown University Law Center.