“You put yourself at risk to keep the relationship:” African American women’s perspectives on womanhood, relationships, sex and HIV

Abstract

Recent trends indicate that HIV and STI infection rates are rising among adults over the age of 50, and African American women have the highest rates of HIV infection across racial and ethnic groups of women in the USA. Limited research has examined factors that contribute to HIV risk among older African American women. The current study used Collins’ Black Feminist Thought to examine and understand attitudes and perceptions around HIV and sexual risk behaviours among African American women aged 50 years and older. Participants were recruited from two faith-based organisations in the mid-Atlantic region of the USA. Overarching themes and subthemes included those of expectations among African American women (carry yourself as you were raised, and carry a big burden), risk factors (not at risk, sexual networks and loneliness) and protective factors (maintaining high standards and education). Findings from this study have implications for the development of future HIV prevention programmes involving older African American women, who have largely been overlooked by past and ongoing HIV prevention trials and safer sex promotion efforts.

KEYWORDS:

• African American women
• Black feminist theory
• HIV
• older adults
• women’s health

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Lindsay Bryant from Nia Inc. of Greater Richmond for her assistance with recruitment, Deborah Butler from the Center for Cultural Experiences in Prevention at VCU for her help with analysis in the early stages of the study, Joann Richardson from the Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences at VCU for her collaboration on developing the study, and all the women who participated and gave this work a voice.

Disclosure statement

This work was supported by funds from an anonymous donor to Virginia Commonwealth University’s College of Humanities and Sciences who denoted funds to be used for HIV research. The authors disclose no conflicts of interest. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the Department of Veterans Affairs or the United States government.