In 2005, CDC reported that 26 percent of people with AIDS were women, up from less than 5 percent two decades ago. And AIDS has become the fourth-leading cause of death for black women ages 45-54 and Hispanic women ages 35-44.
Iris House, an AIDS service center in Harlem, opened 15 years ago. Named for Iris de la Cruz, an advocate for women with HIV who died of the disease in 1991, Iris House distributes 100,000 condoms every month and provides counseling to people with HIV and AIDS, among other services.
Ingrid Floyd, executive director, noted that many of her clients are poor and have experienced homelessness, domestic violence, and drug addiction. "They are not as empowered, not as educated as their Caucasian counterparts and hence they are being hit most with HIV," Floyd said.
On Wednesdays, Iris House holds a support group for African-American and Hispanic women over 50 with HIV. The women call themselves the "Divas" and have often contracted HIV from unfaithful partners, or from lacking sufficient self-esteem to demand safe sex.
The Divas discuss medication and mental health, sexuality, and sensuality. Several have not disclosed their HIV status to their friends and family, so the group provides a rare safe haven.
"When a woman comes out and says she has breast cancer, everybody rallies around her," Floyd said. "I live for the day when someone saying they have an HIV diagnosis is the same as someone saying they have breast cancer."
05/18/08
NEW YORK: For Women over 50 and HIV-Positive, a Safe Harbor
Source: New York Times:: Sally Sara; Courtesy of the CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention