Women and HIV/AIDS

This information sheet discusses the prevalence of HIV/AIDS among women. The sheet presents statistics on the number of women living with HIV/AIDS and notes that the majority of new AIDS cases are African American women and Latinas. Reasons for the higher proportion of women contracting HIV are discussed including the lack of an effective female-controlled method of HIV prevention, women are at-risk because they may not be aware of the high-risk behavior of their partners, and HIV is transmitted eight times more efficiently from men to women. Also, physical and sexual abuse is disproportionately high among women at-risk for HIV. Thus the physical, social, and economic conditions that women experience impact the success of HIV prevention and care programs. The information sheet suggests that women’s HIV prevention and care programs should address the factors that place women at-risk for HIV infection, such as a lack of basic life needs that lead to survival sex or non-monogamous partners of women in long-term relationships Also, women need contraceptive and HIV prevention methods that are female-controlled with or without the knowledge of their sexual partners.