HRC Blog

Today is National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.  HRC Diversity and Inclusion Council member Khadijah Tribble issues a call, “It is time to recognize that the HIV/AIDS epidemic affects all of us when it touches the women and girls in our society.” More than 26 years after its discovery, HIV/AIDS continues to change the face of human health like no other modern illness.   Today we know that women and female adolescents account for more than one quarter of all new HIV/AIDS diagnoses - and the infection rates among women of color are even more alarming.  In 2004, the CDC reported these shocking statistics (.PDF) about HIV/AIDS: •    is the leading cause of death for black women (including African American women) aged 25–34 years. •    the 3rd leading cause of death for black women aged 35–44 years. •    the 4th leading cause of death for Hispanic women aged 35–44 years. That same year, HIV infection was named the 5th leading cause of death among all women aged 35–44 years and the 6th leading cause of death among all women aged 25–34 years.  Only cancer and heart disease caused more deaths among women.

I became involved in the HIV/AIDS work because I recognize that we all are connected.  In my work for Pediatric HIV/AIDS Care, I may be called in to a help a woman during a life-changing situation or to give support to her family during the illness. This family may include a lesbian partner.  I have to be prepared to provide assistance under any circumstances because the HIV/AIDS epidemic affects all of us regardless of your income bracket, race, gender, sexual orientation or gender identity. The cases that come before me are a reflection of reality: the mother that has contracted HIV infection and has a girlfriend OR the young girl that has never used protection with her HIV-infected boyfriend.  We all become connected, at that moment, in saving a sibling, partner, an aunt, a friend, or someone’s mother.  In my role as an activist in both the HIV and LGBT communities, I view my work as Executive Director of Pediatric HIV/AIDS care and as a member the Diversity Council for the Human Rights Campaign as interconnected. We are all in this together. It is no secret that the HIV/AIDS rates are high for women and girls across the country and internationally.  In Washington, DC alone, the statistics show that one out of twenty residents is HIV positive, and an exponentially higher number of people are affected by the disease indirectly.  Our life stories are intertwined when HIV/AIDS touches the women and girls in our society.   However, thanks to modern medicine, new treatments are being approved each day that can help those infected live long, meaningful lives.  With the promise of renewed dedication to fighting HIV/AIDS by the new administration, we hope to see increased measures in prevention as well as support for women and girls living with HIV/AIDS. The statistics do not tell the complex story of how many are affected indirectly by HIV/AIDS in a woman’s life.  I see them every day and I have hope. Khadijah Tribble Executive Director Pediatric AIDS/HIV Care, Inc.