WHOSE EPIDEMIC IS IT - REVIEWING THE LITERATURE ON WOMEN AND AIDS

AIDS is widely presented as a critical problem for women, which raises special issues of prevention and care. Although it is suggested that women are particularly vulnerable physiologically to HIV infection, biomedical research into treatment and prevention options specifically for women has been limited. Considerable social science research at both the theoretical and applied level has been documented. While analyses have tended to highlight broad structural factors, interventions have often been at individual/group level. The literature demonstrates the dilemma of AIDS being seen as women's responsibility, although they lack the power and means to implement safe sex. Gender imbalances in depictions of and responses to AIDS need to be attended to if the epidemic is to be effectively addressed.