CNN: Charlize Theron: HIV spread through sexism, racism, homophobia
“Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron was born and raised in South Africa, where she grew up around HIV and experienced people dying from AIDS. Now 40, she blames society — not the infection — for why the virus still persists. … In an interview with CNN, Theron discussed her experiences with HIV/AIDS and why she cares so much about ending the AIDS epidemic, particularly among teenagers, through her projects and promoting #GenEndIt, part of the U.N. strategy to ‘be the generation that end AIDS’…” (Senthilingam, 7/20).

The Guardian: Racism an underlying cause of HIV epidemic, says Charlize Theron
“Racism is one of the underlying causes of the HIV epidemic and one of the reasons why it has not yet been brought to an end, according to actor and AIDS campaigner Charlize Theron, who says that people are afraid to talk about it. Theron, one of the speakers at the official opening of the International AIDS Conference in Durban on Monday night, is South African by birth and started a foundation in 2007 to help prevent adolescents and young people becoming infected with HIV in ever greater numbers. In an interview with the Guardian, she said increased funding was very important in the effort to end AIDS. ‘But at the same time I also think that there are very fundamental issues like stigma, and there’s a racial part of it too that I think we haven’t really talked about or people are too scared to talk about’…” (Boseley, 7/19).

The Guardian: Under the shadow of ‘dirty’ HIV, South African children offered a refuge
“…WhizzKids, funded by the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project, gives young people a safe place to come, away from stigma and the judgmental gaze of parents and other relatives. … WhizzKids helps these children and others who do not have HIV but are at risk because there is no family conversation about safe sex, and adolescents are afraid to go to family planning clinics…” (Boseley, 7/19).