Women living with HIV/AIDS

This is the question! I am so glad you're bringing up this topic. What does everyone think? I know has written on this topic.


This made me think of what shared: "Women are the voices of change, the solid rock that keeps things together, and that scares those who want us to stay silent. We must continue to speak up, but come together as one and stop talking about it. I say we are resilient, powerful, amazing, and a force to be reckoned with." https://h-i-v.net/living/women-empowerment


Liz (Team Member)

I think multiple factors go into why it is more difficult to reach women living with HIV.
Women are not targeted the same when it comes to prevention measures as men are targeted. The PrEP ads are primarily focused on men. This focus is to the point that a good percentage of women do not know they can even take PrEP. Another percentage of women are afraid to take PrEP because they fear their partner's actions.


Additionally, some women go through life without knowing about their diagnosis. Women need to request that blood work be done at their well-woman appointment to check for HIV. The standard tests done at a well-woman appointment do not check for HIV. Personally, I had it for years before finding out and I went through yearly pap smears.



According to the CDC, women made up about 19% of new diagnoses (in 201😎. A large percentage were heterosexual women who acquired HIV from their partners. This fits my personal case. Originally, I did not know where to turn for information on HIV, much less for positive women. It seemed like everything focused on men. This can make a woman who already feels isolated, feel isolated even more. This is one reason I attempt to write articles for H-I-V.net for women and at times even specifically for heterosexual women. I feel like a woman's voice needs to be heard. Once we have one or two voices that are loud enough, more women will open up.


I hope I managed to answer your question some - Heather R (team member)

Thanks for your responses. Do you have any suggestions on what could help?

My two cents...I never feel like I fit into any community within the HIV world. I always feel like we get divided...into how we acquired it, or how we grew up, or where we live or some other divisive thing. I've always felt like every time I start talking, my experience as an RN who was occupationally infected, brings ire to others and I can't for the life of me figure out why. I already get treated like dirt from other professionals who think I'm lying about how I was infected (who cares how anyone got it, we don't bash smokers for cancer). I live in a rural state and have NO support now for 24 years since I moved away from the city. Every women's experience I've had has been hostile.