ABSTRACT
HIV is now a leading cause of premature death among adult American women (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 1996). Although the proportion of HIV and AIDS cases attributable to male homosexual exposure has declined, HIV infection and AIDS diagnosis rates among women have steadily increased (Holmberg, 1996). Women now account for approximately 19% of new AIDS diagnoses in the United States and an even higher proportion of new HIV infections (Wortley & Fleming, 1997). HIV risk among women is strongly associated with socioeconomic disadvantage and disproportionately affects ethnic minority women. Although African American and Latina females constitute only 21% of the U.S. adult female population, they account for approximately 77% of AIDS cases diagnosed among females in the United States (Wortley & Fleming, 1997). African American females are approximately 16 times more likely to be diagnosed with AIDS than White females and, among women of childbearing age, have HIV seroprevalence rates that are six to 15 times higher than nonminority women (CDC, 1996; Gwinn et al., 1991). Most HIV infections among women are now attributable to sexual contact with an infected male partner rather than with women’s own use of injected drugs (Wortley & Fleming, 1997).
