HIV and violence have a devastating synergistic impact on women. Epidemiological studies of women in the United States show an association between violence from a domestic partner and HIV infection. In international settings, women who experience violence, particularly sexual violence, may be at greater risk of HIV infection and have limitations on their autonomy and access to healthcare. Linking these disparate associations is a need to strengthen women's rights and increase efforts to prevent gender-based violence in the international and domestic spheres. On October 12, 2009, Stephen Lewis and a group of distinguished panelists from the University of California discussed the importance of a renewed commitment to the right to health for all people, as well as an end to structural factors that underpin violence against women.