title: Violence prevention among HIV-positive women with histories of violence: healing women in their communities.
abstract: Experiences of past and current gender-based violence are common among HIV-positive women in the United States, who are predominantly from ethnic minority groups. However, culturally congruent, feasible interventions for HIV-positive women who have experienced past and/or current violence are not widely available. The Office on Women's Health Gender Forum has made several recommendations for responding to the National HIV/AIDS Strategy Implementation Plan, including recommendations to incorporate gender-based violence prevention into a comprehensive, gender-responsive national strategy. This paper draws on an example of a community-based project for HIV-positive women, the Healing Our Women Project, to illustrate how violence prevention can be achieved within peer-led and community-based programming. Strong community partnerships, responsiveness to community needs and local cultural norms, a trained workforce, and culturally competent care are programmatic cornerstones of gender-responsive services. HIV-positive women with histories of gender-based violence and risk factors for current and future violence deserve the highest quality gender-responsive services to ensure that they can address their health needs within contexts of safety and respect.
authors: Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90024-1759, USA. gwyatt@mednet.ucla.edu
authors: Gail E
authors: GE
authors: Wyatt
authors: Alison B
authors: AB
authors: Hamilton
authors: Hector F
authors: HF
authors: Myers
authors: Jodie B
authors: JB
authors: Ullman
authors: Dorothy
authors: D
authors: Chin
authors: Lekeisha A
authors: LA
authors: Sumner
authors: Tamra B
authors: TB
authors: Loeb
authors: Jennifer V
authors: JV
authors: Carmona
authors: Muyu
authors: M
authors: Zhang
authors: Honghu
authors: H
authors: Liu
mesh_terms: D003256:Community Participation; D054521:Cultural Competency; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006679:HIV Seropositivity; D006291:Health Policy; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008913:Minority Groups; D010379:Peer Group; D011902:Rape / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012307:Risk Factors; D012449:Safety; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014481:United States; D016387:Women's Health