Women, Ethnicity, and AIDS: What's Love Got to Do with It?

Abstract

This paper examines the usefulness of relationships as the critical factor in preventing AIDS for women of color. An analysis is offered of the conceptualization of issues, as well as the prevention measures and safe-sex strategies developed for gay men versus women's HIV/AIDS incidence rates. The discussion of similarities demonstrates that gender and culture play a role in the disproportionate negative impact affecting the health status of women of color. The compounding factor of poverty is considered essential to the complex situation in the ethnic minority community, resulting in a lack of public concern and a lack of community responsiveness to these women. Finally, several challenges for health researchers are presented including the need to adopt cultural sensitivity in research efforts, include researchers with an understanding of the ethnic community's perspective, and develop clearer guidelines for risk assessment.