HIV, AIDS, and the Female Offender

• NCJ Number: 138923
• Journal: Federal Prisons Journal Volume: 3 Issue: 1 Dated: (Spring 1992) Pages: 27- 32
• Author(s): W T Lawson Jr; L S Fawkes
• Date Published: 1992
• Length: 6 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

AIDS is rising sharply among American women, especially poor blacks and Hispanics, and the frequent victimization of female offenders increases the risk of heterosexual disease transmission.

Abstract

In 1990, the number of reported AIDS cases among women in the United States exceeded 15,000, an increase of 34 percent from 1989 and about 9 percent of all adult AIDS cases. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) data indicate that 52 percent of women diagnosed with AIDS in the United States are intravenous drug users, 30 percent are exposed to HIV through heterosexual contact, and 11 percent have received HIV-infected blood or blood products. About half of the women with AIDS in the United States are between 30 and 39 years of age; 90 percent of adult female cases occur in women between 20 and 50 years old. A CDC study also reports that rates of HIV infection in prisons and jails range from 2.1 to 7.6 percent for males and 2.5 to 14.7 percent for females. Although most States report adult female AIDS cases to the CDC, more than half of these cases have been reported in the northeastern part of the United States. According to World Health Organization estimates, the number of new cases among women worldwide will begin to equal the number of newly diagnosed men by the year 2000. Further, about 10 million infected infants will have been born worldwide by the year 2000. Some symptoms of HIV infection are similar to those commonly seen in pregnancy, including fatigue, anorexia, weight loss, and shortness of breath. Health care workers caring for pregnant women in HIV-risk groups should assess these women carefully for signs of HIV infection. Counseling issues differ for women, depending on whether they are uninfected but at risk for HIV infection, seropositive but asymptomatic, or have symptomatic HIV infection or AIDS. The CDC recommends that seropositive women avoid pregnancy until more is known about HIV transmission during pregnancy. Significant AIDS-related issues in correctional facilities concern housing, programs and services, and medical care. 2 figures