'Don't judge me 'til you walk through my shoes': A qualitative investigation of the experiences of women living with HIV.

OBJECTIVE

Women living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are less of a focus in the HIV literature, which tends to focus on the HIV experiences of men who have sex with men (MSMs). Hence, we conducted a qualitative study that examined: (a) the type of stigma and discrimination that women living with HIV experience related to their HIV status, (b) the source of this stigma and discrimination, (c) their responses related to this stigma and discrimination, and (d) the ways in which women living with HIV cope with these experiences of stigma and discrimination.

DESIGN

Participants consisted of 14 self-identified women living with HIV that were recruited at a community organization in the Southern United States that provides services to individuals living with HIV. The participants ranged in age from 27 to 65 = 47.92, = 13.08). The sample primarily identified as Black (= 12), followed by White (= 1) and Multiracial (= 1). Most women were cisgender (= 13) with one woman identifying as transgender (= 1).

RESULTS

Fourteen women participated in one of two focus groups (seven in each focus group), which were audio recorded and transcribed. We identified 24 categories across five domains (, , , and ).

CONCLUSIONS

This study identified that women living with HIV experience stigma and discrimination in a multitude of ways from different sources. Moreover, women with HIV responded to and coped in negative and positive ways. Multidimensional approaches including personal and community education may help alleviate the stigma and discrimination faced by women living with HIV.