Email CCSD or Vis-à-vis | CCSD Home Page| Table of Contents (current issue)Imagine that you are a 16-year-old girl, in love with a boy of 19. He gets angry when you talk to other boys or spend time with your friends. He hits you sometimes, but says it's because he loves you "too much." When you started to have intercourse, he refused to wear condoms, saying that he would be careful, instead. Two weeks ago you went to the clinic because of some vaginal discomfort. The doctor asked if she could do some tests, including a blood test for HIV. Yesterday, she told you that you have chlamydia and had tested positive for HIV.
Abuse and HIV are silent partners affecting many women in Canada today. Much of society still views HIV/AIDS as a disease of gay men and injection drug users. Yet increasingly, HIV is emerging as a disease in women. According to a Women and HIV/AIDS Fact Sheet (Interagency Coalition on AIDS and Development), "Women are biologically more vulnerable than men to HIV infection. Infected semen may remain in the creases of the vagina for several days after sexual activity, a factor that increases a woman's risk of infection. Studies have found that male to female transmission appears to be two to four times more efficient than female to male transmission, in part because semen contains a far higher concentration of HIV than vaginal fluid." Alarmingly, "seventy per cent of all new infections in women are among 15- to 24-year- olds." (emphasis mine)
Marcie Summers, former Executive Director of the New Beginnings Shelter in Seattle, says that controlling behaviour and maintaining power are key elements of abuse and that abusers often begin by isolating their partners. They discourage or forbid them from working, driving or having friends. The abuser maintains his partner's isolation by convincing her that she is not worthy of love, by telling her she is lucky to have him, by beating her if she questions him. If a woman is HIV+, she may stay in an abusive relationship because she is vulnerable to her partner and the stigma of being positive, and feels she has nowhere to turn. Women who enter relationships after their HIV diagnosis may be more inclined to tolerate abuse because they believe that no one else will love them.
Women in abusive relationships often do not have the option of taking their time in coming to terms with a positive serostatus, nor do they have a choice about whether to be sexually active. Summers points out, "We know that women who assert safer sex practices are often at risk for violence. If she insists he use condoms, he's going to attack her for being promiscuous and beat her up, or ask her if she's implying that he's promiscuous, and beat her up." The basic fact that so many AIDS education messages ignore is this: Women don't wear condoms, men do.
Like many women in abusive relationships, women who are HIV+ often find it difficult to seek support. They are confronted with challenges similar to those faced by battered women: power imbalance, damaged self-esteem, shame, emotional or financial dependence, cultural barriers, isolation, and lack of resources and support. Barriers to using social services also exist. Most AIDS service organizations were formed by and continue to serve populations of predominantly white, gay men, so women may not feel safe expressing their specific needs. Women living with HIV are often fearful that disclosing their positive status may result in the loss of relationships with family, friends, neighbours and co-workers. Consequently, they remain silent, and their isolation continues.
At Positive Women's Network, we work to eradicate the isolation experienced by HIV+ women. We offer peer support, a drop-in centre, referrals, weekend retreats, a monthly newsletter and information on treatments, psychosocial issues, pregnancy and more. HIV+ women participate at all levels of the organization.
We must all respond to the issues of violence and HIV. The ongoing acts of violence and stigmatization undermine the health of women and affect them in many facets of their lives. We must develop environments and services where women feel safe to speak without shame. Infected or not, we are all affected by the relationship between violence and HIV. Both issues contribute to the ability of women to live healthy, satisfying lives the lives we deserve.
Janet Madsen is the communications co-ordinator at the Positive Women's Network in Vancouver. She can be reached at:1107 Seymour Street
Vancouver, BC, V6B 5S8
Tel: (604) 681-2122
Fax: 893-2251
E-mail: janetm@parc.org
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