In many ethnocultural communities, AIDS is seen as a shameful disease; even mentioning the word is unwelcome. It is often perceived as a Western gay white man's disease, a perception that poses difficulties for immigrant women who need to learn more about prevention and treatment. Immigrant women who are HIV+ or at risk of being infected are often reluctant to seek help from AIDS organizations. Confidentiality is always an issue, and language can be a serious barrier in using services and expressing needs.

Sexuality is not a commonly discussed topic in ethnocultural families, and negotiating safer sex in relationships is very difficult for immigrant women. Often, the husband is the breadwinner in the family. Immigrant men may feel they have the freedom to engage in extramarital activities if they have to go overseas for work, or because they know that their wives are isolated (because they do not speak English), financially dependent upon them and have few supports. Racism, sexism and language difficulties set the boundaries for women in a new country, and her husband may be her only venue to basic necessities such as food and shelter. Although the wife may suspect extramarital affairs, cultural norms or fear of violence may prevent her from challenging her husband.

So how does a woman who is not in an equal partnership protect herself from STDs and HIV infection when simply asking her husband to wear a condom implies that he has had extramarital affairs and puts her at high risk of violence or further abuse? These women fear losing their residency, and many believe that they have two choices: Stay with their husband, or risk being deported. To stand up for their sexual rights and sexual health protection in an abusive relationship is almost an impossible goal.

To provide appropriate services on sexual health to immigrant women, it is important to be sensitive to their ethnocultural backgrounds. AIDS prevention and education in ethnocultural communities means not only talking about sexual activities, but also addressing the hardships of being immigrants. It is important for AIDS organizations to work with or hire support workers who are ethnic, as well as to provide HIV educational materials that are relevant to immigrant women. Using peer educators in communities is an effective way of educating men and women about HIV infection. Once these strategies are under way, perhaps we will see a decrease in the HIV rate of infection for immigrant women and an increase in these women coming forward to talk about having HIV/AIDS.

Denise Tse Shang Tang is the Outreach/Volunteer Coordinator at Asian Support AIDS Project. Prior to that, she worked as a peer counsellor at Women Against Violence Against Women Rape Crisis Centre, Vancouver. She can be reached at:

1033 Davie Street, Suite 507
Vancouver, BC, V6E 1M7
Tel: (604) 669-6657, fax: 669-7756

The URL for this document is: http://www.ccsd.ca/v_immig.html

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