HIV/AIDS and Women
The
unique Challenges facing Women
The HIV/AIDS pandemic is taking an increasing toll on women and girls in the United States . Women
have unique issues and special challenges that make it harder for them to prevent HIV or take care of themselves
if they have HIV. Women of color,
particularly Black women, have been especially hard hit and represent the majority of new HIV and AIDS cases among women, and the majority of women living with the
disease. In government studies of 29 states, a black woman was 23 times more likely to be infected with AIDS than was a white woman, and black women accounted for
71.8% of new HIV cases in women from 2002 to 2005. Though new cases of HIV among black women have been stable in the past few years, the number of those who have been
infected through heterosexual sex has risen.
Research suggests that women with HIV face limited access to care and experience disparities in access, relative to men. Women are also more
biologically susceptible to HIV infection during sex, and experience different clinical symptoms and complications.
Women who are HIV positive can
pass it on to their babies during pregnancy, delivery and breast-feeding. A woman is twice as likely as a man to get HIV infection
during vaginal sex (because the lining of the vagina provides a large area of potential exposure to HIV-infected semen. Historically,
the HIV/AIDS pandemic has affected more men than women, but women are being increasingly affected. Since approximately 1985
the proportion of estimated AIDS cases diagnosed among women has more than tripled, from 8% in 1985 to 28% in 2005. And although
each year more men than women become infected with HIV, this gap is slowly closing. In fact, if new HIV infections continue at their current rate worldwide, women
with HIV may soon outnumber men with HIV.
Blacks
represent approximately 13% of the United States population, but over 50% of all new cases of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Blacks are infected at a rate of 8 times that of whites. Black women are 23 times more likely
to be diagnosed with AIDS than white
women. As of 2004 more than 200,000 African Americans have died from the disease.
Today, there are approximately 1.2 million people living
HIV/AIDS in the U.S. , including more than 300,000 women. The case rate for Black women was 49.9 per 100,000, or 24 times
the rate for white women. Women with HIV
are at increased risk for developing or contracting a range of infections, including cervical cancer. AIDS is the leading cause of death among Black American women
ages 25-44, and has been for 11 years!
HIV/AIDS prevention efforts have generally focused on drug users and men who have sex with men. But the new findings
made clear that HIV had the potential
to spread to a wider circle of Blacks. In particular, the new research has alarmed black women. Now in online chat rooms,
at book clubs, on radio call-in shows and widespread conversations with friends, many are trying to piece together information
to figure what is causing this sudden infection rise of the disease. In 2005, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a
nonprofit group focusing on health issues concluded that an estimated 67 % of black women with AIDS contracted the virus through heterosexual sex, compared with 58 % four
years earlier. Though heterosexual transmission has risen for all women, researchers say a black woman has a greater chance
of coming into contact with the virus when she has sex with another black person because, compared with the general population,
there is a higher rate of HIV among
black Americans. Recent studies suggest that 35% of all black bisexual men may be infected with HIV and up to 99% of these men do not know they are infected. Researchers
for the Centers for Disease Control have referred to these men as a “bridge to infection from gay men to heterosexual
women. No one knows for sure how much the spread of AIDS virus among blacks can be attributed to the behavior of bisexual
men.
The
Down Low- is a slang term. It is often used to refer to something that is secret or hidden. One use
is to describe men who have sex with men, but who identify themselves as neither homosexual nor bisexual. This use of the
term may have originated in African American slang, but this type of sexual behavior exists in all cultures. Because of stigma
of homosexuality, a significant number of African American men who sleep with men (MSM) identify themselves as heterosexual
and as a result, they may not relate to prevention message crafted for men who identify themselves as homosexual. Men living
on the Down Low (DL) is not a new phenomenon in the African American community. Popular hit songs like TLC’s 1994 tune “Creep,” Brian McKnight’s
1995 song “On the Down Low,” and R. Kelly’s 1006 tune “Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)”.
DL men come from all walks of life and they may engage
in regular, secret sex with other men while continuing sexual and romantic relationships with women. Some have argued that
being openly gay may lead to considerable stigma in the African American community, thus leading men to engage in male-to
male sex in secret while publicly maintaining heterosexual relationships. College students are being impacted. North Carolina
health officials released a study in 2004 that found that of 84% of male college students infected with HIV in the state in the last four years, 73% were black. Of
those black men, 67% said they had sex with men and 27% with female partners. Also alarming is that a higher percentage of
African American men over 50 are contracting the virus. With men taking Viagra and sleeping with younger women who unknowingly
have been with young DL men infected with the virus. Studies have found that African Americans make up the majority of AIDS
cases in the southern U.S. And the South also has the highest percentage of DL men infected with HIV/AIDS.
Medical researchers and epidemiologist have found that
homosexual practices are invariably linked to serious and deadly diseases. History has revealed that nations decline and eventually
die when sexual immorality becomes rampant and the traditional family is replaced with group sex, homosexuality, infidelity,
and unrestrained sexual pleasures.
HIV is
spread mainly through unprotected sexual intercourse with an infected person. Sexual promiscuity continues to be one of the
grave dangers of society, especially among our teens. Homosexuals (especially males) often engage in a number of activities
that spread disease and the AIDS virus. Jay and Young document this in The Gay Report. These researchers surveyed the sex
habits of homosexuals and discovered that 90% engaged in oral sex; 91% engaged in anal intercourse; 83% engaged in rimming
(mouth to anus contact); 23% admitted to golden showers (urinating on a sex partner); 76% admitted to group or public sex;
4% admitted ingesting feces. These behaviors are breeding grounds for a whole variety of serious intestinal diseases. Homosexual
males are also at high risk for anal cancer. Dr. Stephen E. Goldstone, the medical director of gayhealth.com says that 68% of HIV- positive and 45% of HIV- negative homosexual men have abnormal or
pre-cancerous anal cells.
The Bible is very clear on its view of homosexuality, and therefore, same-sex marriages.
You
shall not lie with a male as with woman. It is an abomination (Leviticus 18:22, NKJ)
“If man lies with a male as he lies with a women, both of them have committed an abomination.
They shall surely be put to death. There blood shall be upon them (Leviticus 20:13 NKJ)
The Word of God tells us that we are living in perilous
times, due to the breakdown of the family unit and rejection of God’s Word.
“But
know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters,
proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving unforgiving, slanderers without self-control, brutal,
despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God (2nd
Timothy 3:1-4)
The scientific origin of
HIV has never been proven, however we can see that the Word tells that we can open the door for the powers of darkness to
come by violating the Word of God. As believers we know that whatever the cause of the HIV/AIDS pandemic it was spawn
from the pit of hell. And, we also know that we have the necessary weapon to defeat this disease. The Word says, He has highly
exalted Him (JESUS), and given Him (JESUS) a name, which is above every name – that means that Jesus is above the name
of HIV/AIDS. The primary reason why this disease has gained such a stronghold is because people are ignorant concerning this
subject. Overwhelming evidence has proven that dissemination of accurate information on HIV/AIDS prevention has saved countless
lives both in the U.S. and worldwide. It is becoming more and more apparent that effectiveness of future HIV/AIDS prevention
and awareness efforts will depend, in part; on how well these efforts address the pandemic in women. Matthew 11:15 says He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
References
CDC, HIV Surveillance
Kaiser Family Foundation
County of
Los Angeles
Department
of Health Services
Office of AIDS Program & Policy
Alive and Well Los Angeles
