Women and HIV/AIDS in China: Gender and Vulnerability

Abstract

A comprehensive literature review was conducted to determine if there was a research gap between women's vulnerability to HIV and research addressing that vulnerability in China. Türmen's article Gender and HIV/AIDS served as a framework for examining the eight determinants placing women and adolescent girls at greater risk of HIV infection than men. Eighty-eight research reports were retrieved and categorized by general characteristics and the eight determinants. Women were found to be more vulnerable than men to HIV infection in China and worldwide. While researchers reported a considerable amount of research regarding women's HIV/AIDS-related issues in China, there is insufficient attention to some risk determinants. Investigators are encouraged to take advantage of political commitment and policy changes in China to conduct more research focusing on female vulnerability and to address the effects of violence, laws, stigma, and discrimination in female HIV prevention.

The first author is indebted to the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) AIDS International Training and Research Program (AITRP; NIH, FIC Grant #D43 TWO1419, Judith Levy, PI) for the provision of financial support while studying at the College of Nursing.

Notes

^a The intervention studies targeting pregnant women only included health education to improve their knowledge, not medications or ob-gyn interventions.