Nevertheless very few policies or specific measures were adopted by governments to prevent and reduce the impact on girls and women. Since 1985 the epidemic increased geometrically specially among women. Clearly AIDS is killing more women than men, and this difference is higher in poor countries . Biological vulnerability of women to HIV infection is reinforced by economic, social and cultural vulnerability due to the status of women in society. When infected, women, and girls are much vulnerable to illness and death.
Poverty exposes women and girls to be abused and to higher risk behavior.
Sexual exploitation of girls and women in poor groups is today a family survival strategy. In many Latin America and Caribbean countries unemployment and extreme poverty pushed families to tolerate and even promote girls and women prostitution to survive. Girls and women have difficulties to obtain sexual information due to cultural norms. When they are poor they find much more difficult the access to knowledge and to adopt preventive measures than other women and girls. This is one of the reasons for the growth of the epidemic among women, in Latin America and the Caribbean.