Journal Articles: Gender

"The prevalence of HIV/AIDS in African and Caribbean communities in Ontario has grown by 85% in the last 5 years and 22-59% of these infections occurred after settlement in Ontario (Remis, 2004)." -Tharao (Page 1)

Authors: Tiffany C. Veinot; Esther Tharao, Notisha Massaquoi, Senait Teclom; Christopher Fulcher and Catherine Kaukinen

The readings this week have given me a lot to think of in terms of my essay and my eventual masters project. I know I’ve said it before, but this is a complicated issue with so many different directions from which to approach it. The readings have yet to become repetitive but there is a definite trend among them, which is that the circumstances of the lives of many black women in Canada make them more vulnerable to contracting HIV/AIDS and makes living with the disease more of a challenge.

What I came to realize while reading the texts this week is that we seem to know the facts surrounding black women and HIV/AIDS. The next step should be asking how we address it and what policy steps may need to be taken to deal with a huge increase in numbers. I think that is where my research project will enter the discussion, with a focus on services related specifically to black people and women.

Two things stood out in the readings this week: the role African and Carribean women play in efforts to address the problem of HIV/AIDS in their community and the shift in the readings in beginning to suggest policy efforts. In the report Women’s Health in Women’s Hands, Tharao writes “All the research respondents agreed that African and Caribbean women were juggling too many priorities to even think about HIV/AIDS.” The women had other priorities in their lives that took precedence. Added to that is that fact that the people working in AIDS services are often not black women. Which means the women are getting care from people who may find it harder to relate to them, as mentioned in the readings last week.

The lack of a community push to address HIV/AIDS among black was also mentioned frequently in the readings. This is in stark contrast to initiatives by some community services and groups that target gay men.

Veinot’s reading, which emphasized the importance of an integrated approach to dealing with HIV/AIDS was especially interesting. She asserts that prevention, support and treatment of the disease are fundamentally intertwined. According to Veinot the three work naturally together and are the most successful when they are approached in conjunction with one another.

Veinot’s integrated approach to HIV/AIDS reminds me in some ways of Collins’ theory of intersectionality, both make sense in the context of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It is not a simple disease so the answer to dealing with it could never be simple. This integrated approached, while focused on in Veinot’s reading, comes up in almost all four of this week’s texts. In addition the texts all provide policy recommendations on how to turn the theories and ideas they outline into practical policy and action. I think it’s important to do exactly, to explain how a theory can work in the real world and suggest ways to implement the ideas raised.

More than anything right now it seems actions needs to be taken. The issues have been identified, a lot of their root causes have been brought to light, the next step—the one that has yet to be taken—is to do something to change the current statistics. That’ll take black women themselves, AIDS service workers, policy makers and researchers and, most importantly, the will to change.