Keeping safe, keeping connected: A qualitative study of HIV-positive women's experiences of partner relationships

Abstract

This article reports the findings of a study specifically oriented to the exploration of HIV-positive women's experiences of partner-relationships. Transcripts of individual interviews with six women were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The article focuses on an emergent, central organizing theme of ‘psychological protection’, which is defined as a perceived need to protect oneself from the psychological threats associated with an HIV-positive identity. Conflicts between protecting the self and protecting others, and between psychological protection and physical protection in partner-relationships, are highlighted. The potential for a partner-relationship to be psychologically protective against feelings of ‘otherness’ is indicated. The study suggests an underlying tension, for these women, between psychological safety and a need for connection with others. Issues of relevance to those working with HIV-positive women are discussed.

Keywords:

• Women
• HIV infection
• partner-relationships
• interpretative phenomenological analysis
• qualitative
• psychological protection

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the women who participated in this research and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.

Notes

A CD4 cell is a lymphocyte (also called a T4 cell), which is a type of white blood cell in the body that fights infection. A CD4 cell count test gives information about how many of these cells are in the blood. The higher the CD4 cell count, the healthier the immune system is and the better able a person is to fight HIV infection.

HIV negative status is assumed here. Three of the women's partners had not had tests to confirm their HIV negative status.

Jo gave an interesting account of how she perceived other lesbian women's responses to her. With few accounts of HIV-positive-lesbian's experiences it is difficult to explore whether this would be a common experience within the lesbian community, or is to do with Jo's own experience, an uncertainty that Jo herself acknowledged.

Since the time Carol was interviewed there have been legal developments, with the first United Kingdom prosecution for the sexual transmission of HIV (Chalmers, 2002). This adds a new dimension to the moral dilemma of disclosure for people who are positive.