Thank you for inviting Human Rights Watch to testify about women's property rights violations and how they fuel the HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. This is a particularly timely briefing given that AIDS will kill millions of women throughout sub-Saharan Africa in the coming years because their subordinate status increases their vulnerability to HIV infection. Property rights violations, which are often accompanied by sexual and physical violence, are emblematic of this subordination. This briefing is also timely because of the important AIDS legislation pending in Congress.