Where can I start with Women and HIV? Let me start with some facts from the CDC in light of National Women’s and Girls HIV Awareness Day that will guide this blog for today.

  • Approximately one in four people living with HIV infection in the United States are women.
  • Most new HIV infections in women are from heterosexual contact (84%).
  • Some women may be unaware of their male partner’s risk factors for HIV and may not use #condoms.
  • Women who have been sexually abused may be more likely than women with no abuse history to engage in sexual behaviors like exchanging sex for drugs, having multiple partners, or having sex with a partner who is physically abusive when asked to use a condom.

When I look at this information I have to sit back and wonder why are women at such risk for HIV and how can I help my sisters out in the world protect themselves. Let’s start from the biology and get to the determinants that I consider to be the social factors influencing our risk. The one thing that many women don’t know is that women are just biologically at greater risk for contracting HIV and STD’s. We don’t have only 2 squishy parts (mouth and anus) but a third one that increases our risk. Our vagina is all mucous membrane and has a larger surface area to be exposed to STD/HIV; where as, for a man to be infected through vaginal sex he has to get vaginal secretions into his urethra or the hole in the top of his penis. The other biological increased risk factor is the possibility of tearing the mucous membrane in the vagina. The final biological cofactor for a woman is unprotected anal sex.

Now let me be clear, a woman can only get HIV or an STD or both, for that matter, from someone who is infected with HIV or an STD or both. Furthermore, if you are having sex with a condom properly then you are likely preventing the transmission of HIV and STD’s. You can check out my blog on condoms to for more information about how to use them.

Ok, back to biological factors. The easiest way that squishy has ever been explained to me is that a mouth has 3 layers of skin, a vagina has 2 layers of skin, and the anus has only one layer of skin. What this means to us is that unprotected anal sex is our highest sexual risk for contracting HIV because there are not as many layers of protection; therefore, it is easier to tear that mucous membrane in the anus. As well, semen has the second highest body fluid for HIV and it get’s into an open wound or tearing in the anus; that increases risk. Vaginal sex is less risky because it has more layers and you can kind of beat up, but it’s still risky. Whereas, if you bite the holy hell out of your cheek and it doesn’t bleed, it’s because there are more layers of that mucous membrane. That means that oral sex is the lowest risk for HIV, but don’t play you can still get an STD in your throat. HIV and STD’s are always looking for dark, warm places like your squishy (vagina, anus, throats,) are always looking for an opportunity to share their experience.

So when we see the fact that most women are infected through heterosexual contact, we can better understand how the biological factors impact our risk. We also don’t have the vital conversations, or know how to, that we need to have with our sexual partners about sex, STD and HIV testing, using condoms or not using condoms, what definition they use for monogamy. By not having these conversations, we as women can inadvertently put ourselves at risk. This is not the time to practice, don’t ask don’t tell because it is our health that we are putting at risk.

I mentioned earlier that I would get to the social factors or determinants that contribute to the increase in a woman’s risk of contracting HIV. In the society that we live in women are objectified, treated as less then, and viewed as weak. Then add culture, religion, self-esteem and self-value, family dynamics and trauma it becomes even more complex. Culture and religion shape our understanding of who we are, what is expected of us as women, and relationship dynamics. We take all of those messages from our culture, religion, and society/media and allow it to shape how we feel about ourselves, how we will be received in the world, how we should be treated or what we will tolerate. These are the infected wounds that fester in our soul that allow us to be in abusive relationships, make unhealthy decisions, find ourselves lost in our trauma and we don’t even know that is our forwarding address. Trauma is one of those things that so many women experience and once that happens we typically continue to repeat that pattern in our lives. Trauma also can lead to substance use and abuse. Using substances can increase our risk for contracting HIV through lower inhibitions, sharing drug supplies or having survival sex or being in unhealthy relationships.

There are disproportionate rates of HIV among Black and Latina women and this could be largely due to the social factors that I described above. So we must find ways to help eachother be educated on how to prevent contracting HIV and other STD’s, talk with our partners about getting tested and prevention, and learn how to have these conversations with our partners so we know what risks we are willing to take. #squishytalk  #NWGHAAD

SquishyLady

Original Post: Mar 6, 2016 @ 07:42