User:Aissis12/sandbox/HIV/AIDS among Puerto Rican Women in NYC

HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) and AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Virus) is a chronic, potentially life threatening condition that affects ones immune system. It interferes with the body ability to fight off organisms that cause disease.

Puerto Ricans are the second largest group of Hispanic females in the United States and make up for 58.0 percent of the AIDS cases among Latinos. The two highest influences of HIV: the two most transmission routes are heterosexual contact (38 percent) and injection drug use (39 percent). Injection drug use has been found to be higher among Puerto Ricans than any other Latin group, mainly Puerto Rican females.

Previous research among Puerto Rican women has identified several factors that may place them at high risk for HIV. The three most common factors:

Power Differentials (Intimate partner violence) Financial hardship (Drugs) Limited knowledge regarding the Health- Specific needs

Power Differentials: Intimate Partner Violence:

The power differentials and cultural scripts such as machismo and marianismo between male and female Puerto Ricans are one of the main factors. Although machismo and marianismo are not unique to Puerto Ricans, they are present in many degrees of intensity. Machismo refers to the men's behavior of being overbearing, dictating specific sexual behaviors such as having multiple sexual partners. Some scholars have noted that living in an abusive relationship makes the talk about safe sex harder than it should be. (Sexual Risk Factors for HIV and Violence among Puerto Rican Women in New York 88) According to the National Alcohol and Family Violence Survey (NAFVS)), found that male to female abuse was higher among some Latinos subgroups, with Puerto Rican having the highest incidence of abuse. Aldarondo et al.’s (2002) study found that Puerto Rican women reported the highest of partner violence and assault. Most of the time the abusive relationship resulted in the dictation of some sexual behaviors such as being ignorant about sex and STIs, and by letting the male decide all the sexual matters, the females have a more significant chance of being diagnosed.

In the article Sexual Risk Factors for HIV and Violence among Puerto Rican Women in New York by Claudia L. Moreno, Allison C. Morrill and Nabila El- Bassel, for their study the women they studied were recruited from a large, urban hospital clinic in a low- income neighborhood in the Bronx. Women who were screened for the study reflected the population of patients served in the hospital regarding ethnicity and economic stability. Of the those screened, 1.003 identified themselves as being Puerto Rican.

Partners abuse increases a female's vulnerability to HIV because women have difficulties talking about safe sex with their abusive partners. It may be hard for them to get access to health services, preventive programs, and treatments. Exposure to IPV (Intimate Partner Violence) creates a unique HIV risk, in particular with Puerto Rican women. It is imperative to understand the causes and create programs for Puerto Rican women who live in abusive relationships.

Limit of Knowledge:

HIV continues to be a threat for Puerto Rican women because they are not educated enough on the effects of the infectious disease or how to prevent it. Condom use represents a useful tool when it comes to preventing HIV transmission. In separate studies by the Health Care Women Int. Puerto Rican women reported low or inconsistent rates of condom use, with an app. 63 percent to 64 percent of Puerto Rican women in the Bronx reported never using condoms during sex. Most Puerto Rican females were lead on to believe that there was no need in questioning their primary partner's sex lives. They thought that it was easy to see who had the infectious disease base on their physical appearance.

Financial Hardship: Drug Epidemic

Among Latino adults in NYC ages 25 and older, according to the Health of Latinos in New York City, do not have a high school education. It also says that more than half of Puerto Rican spend over 30 percent of their monthly household income or rent on drugs.

People who are incarcerated have high rates of poor mental and physical health. Most of Puerto Rican women incarcerated share injected drugs like syringes and needles, resulting in blood to blood contact making it easier to get infected with the disease. The overall prevalence of HIV/AIDS among US prison inmates is four times higher than among the US. High-risk HIV transmission behaviors among inmates are identified as injection drug use, needle sharing and having sex with men. Women continue to account for the steady rise of HIV.

How it can be solved:

This problem can be solved by giving them unlimited knowledge on how to protect themselves from the HIV/AIDS deadly infectious disease. It starts feeling like society is ignoring them. We need to create more informational and treatment centers in affected neighborhoods. We can also handout condoms by telling them this is a method to protect someone against HIV and any other STIs. Most of the women in these studies did not have the educational background, so they need to be educated about how to become more protected against the infectious disease. There is a general lack of perceived vulnerability. Most communities who are successful with educating their citizens on how to be more careful involves continued education, social-cultural sensitivity, development of programs, sexual decision making and creating more natural economic changes to helping the citizens grown healthy as a community. By creating these programs, we can help Puerto Rican women become less vulnerable to their abusive partners, take away the drugs and become more educated on how we can stop the spread of HIV and AIDS in communities like the Bronx.

Video: https://vimeo.com/48158838

Audio Interview: https://soundcloud.com/aissata-bah-731128905/delila-audio-interview