Transitioning Times

December 1 st is World AIDS Day.  This year’s World AIDS Day campaign, determined by the United Kingdom’s National AIDS Trust , is #RethinkHIV.  Their goal is to dispel some of the commonly held beliefs about HIV contraction and people living with HIV that are false.  Recently, when actor Charlie Sheen disclosed his positive HIV status, there were many questions from his fellow actors, namely Jenny McCarthy, about their exposure to HIV.  This has been a great opportunity for those in the HIV/AIDS educational community to remind people that HIV is NOT spread by kissing, touching or licking.  Another common misconception is that all intravenous drug users have contracted HIV.  This is also not true.  I found this statistic especially surprising.  The campaign has many suggested Twitter and Facebook posts to participate in World AIDS Day.  One of the suggested posts from the campaign is “There are only three ways to get HIV-u...

According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS , at the end of 2010, 34 million people worldwide are living with HIV.  Globally, the percentage of women living with HIV has held steady at 50%, but in sub-Saharan Africa, the percentage is 59%.  On December 1 st , World AIDS Day, we at Transitions would like to remind you of the intersection of HIV/AIDS infection and violence against women and girls.  Due to the biology of their genitalia, females are twice as likely as males to contract HIV from unprotected heterosexual intercourse.  There are a great many situations, both domestically and abroad, where women and girls do not have the power to negotiate safe sex practices or to refuse sex. Women who are victims of sexual violence are at an increased risk of HIV exposure.  They do not have control over a nonconsensual sexual encounter.  Whether the perpetrator uses a condom or not, what type of intercourse they engage in, who the pe...