Rethinking the Experience of HIV-Positive Refugee Women in the Context of Pregnancy: Using an Intersectional Approach in Nursing

When providing care to HIV-positive refugee women in the context of pregnancy, nurses must be able to move beyond the individual experiences of health and illness and acquire a more meaningful understanding of the historical, social, cultural, political, and structural influences that shape women's health and women's lives. Intersectionality is a framework that focuses on various dimensions of a refugee woman's social identity such as race, class, gender, as well as education, citizenships, and geographic location and how these dimensions intersect to influence the experiences of health and illness. In this article, we present a brief overview of the origins and evolution of intersectionality. From there we describe three distinct levels of analysis: (a) micro-level analysis to examine the influences that impact the social identity and social location of women; (b) meso-level analysis to explore informal and formal support systems; and (c) macro-level analysis to interrogate historical, social, cultural, political, and structural influences that shape health outcomes. Finally, we will examine how this framework may be useful for nursing practice, research, and knowledge development. We hope to illustrate how intersectionality is a useful framework to understand the experiences of HIV-positive refugee women in the context of pregnancy.