Did you know over half of HIV-positive people in the world are female?

Equity Cannot Wait: Confronting the Unequal Burden of HIV and AIDS on Women of Color

When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention first reported what would later be called AIDS in 1981, public narratives narrowly centered on white gay men. Globally, women account for more than half of all people living with HIV today. But, women were present in the epidemic from the start, but their experiences were marginalized in surveillance and public discourse. The post Equity Cannot Wait: Confronting the Unequal Burden of HIV and AI…

Did you know over half of HIV-positive people in the world are female?

Here in the U.S., we often think of HIV as a problem that primarily affects gay and bisexual men — however, the reality is that the virus also affects millions of women worldwide. Of the nearly 41 million people living with HIV on the planet, more than half (53 percent) are women and girls, according to UNAIDS. In 2024, women and girls accounted for 45 percent of all new HIV diagnoses. And globally, HIV rates among transgender women are 66 times…

Centering Black Women and Girls in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS

When the HIV/AIDS crisis first emerged roughly 40 years ago, it was widely perceived as a virus that primarily affected white gay men. But Black women have for decades made up a disproportionate share of the ongoing HIV epidemic in the United States — without getting nearly as much attention. In 2023, for example, Black women accounted for fully half of all new HIV diagnoses among women in the U.S., even though they are just 13% of the country’s…