Community-based Research to Explore Safer Sex Behaviors Among Women

African American women's experience of infection with HIV in the rural southeastern United States

The design of effective behavioral interventions to prevent HIV infection among African American women requires a more complete understanding of the context and circumstances that precipitate infection with the virus. A descriptive study was designed to explore African American women's experiences of infection with HIV in the rural southeastern United States. Ten women living with HIV participated in interviews. All were infected through sex with a man or men; three had engaged in high-risk activities associated with HIV infection including sex trading; seven described themselves as at low risk for infection related to serial monogamy, no injection drug use, and no history of addiction. Participants reported that desire for intimacy coupled with inaccurate risk appraisal of sex partners contributed to their infection. These results provide insight into the role of intimacy in sexual risk taking. Inquiry into how women can be assisted to protect themselves in the context of intimate relationships may improve interventions to prevent HIV.