Does being Black predispose one to HIV? - A.J. & Ranece

Yes.

Being Black predisposes one to HIV through a number of factors: racism, systemic inequalities, social and economic marginalization, residential segregation and other long standing barriers are key drivers of the disproportionate impact of HIV among Black women in the world. Racism and discrimination are the greatest challenges facing Black women and its impact is felt where they live, learn, work, worship and this creates inequities in access to housing, quality of education, wealth, employment and other social economic benefits. These can lead to poverty, which predisposes Black women to health inequity, especially HIV.

We as a society, community, country, continent and the entire world need to have togetherness, love for one another, promote equality, fairness in all available opportunities and resources. Avoid racism and discrimination and treat each other as equals.

We as Black women should appreciate ourselves, fight for our rights, get good education as a means to have equal grounds for the opportunities that are available. With well paying jobs, we will be in a better position to fight poverty.

Black women are hit harder by HIV infection for many reasons including: higher rates of poverty, lack of access to healthcare, higher rates of sexually transmitted  infections, lack of awareness of HIV status, stigma underscoring the need for strengthened, more focused and innovative efforts to address this disparity, delay seeking treatment due to fear of being stigmatized, lack of knowledge on preventive measures like PReP and PEP.

A.J.’s note: With Black women empowerment, we can reduce and manage HIV well.

A note from Ranece: In my Master’s thesis I learned that class privilege doesn’t protect Black women’s health. A.J. has a great point that there are a number of factors that create inequities for Black women’s social determinants of health, but the real message is that being a Black women is enough to make it difficult to access healthcare and health information. Then, experiences of racism & sexism as it relates to being a Black woman (misogynoir), being ignored, dismissed and not believed occur for a lot of Black women when they do access healthcare. It is not your job as a Black woman to change the system, but it’s our job to share relevant health information and stories that may be helpful for you on your journey.