Poor Women, Education, & HIV Rates: NOT a "Private Affair"

 A group of Bronx teenage community leaders attempting to push for reform within sex education in NYC. 

The largest cases of HIV/AIDs in the U.S. are often seen primarily in cities with areas of low income such as Atlanta, Philadelphia, and areas in New York City. A high concentration of these diseases within low income areas is not coincidental, as issues arising from poverty render bodies more vulnerable to HIV/AIDs such as through difficulties finding good healthcare and lack of time individuals have to take off from work in order to receive necessary care. Women of color are particularly at risk within these areas, as the intersecting identities of being poor, a person of color, and a woman create circumstances that put them at a greater risk. As stated by Paul Farmer “One way to imagine these ‘factors’ (poverty, gender inequality, racism, drug use) is as vectors that converge in the bodies and lives of individuals; in some lives, more factors converge, placing those people at higher risk of contracting disease.” (Farmer, 93). For young women of color, a lack of access to a quality public education within low income areas is all too common and is yet another resource they are cheated from which affects their accessibility to knowledge for their health, as well as affects their prospects for pursuing higher education.

Many public schools in low income areas are often lacking in resources and funding compared to public schools in wealthier neighborhoods. An example of an area in which poverty, lack of access to a higher quality of education, and increasing HIV/AIDs rates tie together is demonstrated in the NYC borough of the Bronx. The Bronx has the highest poverty rate in the city and has the second highest rate of HIV diagnoses in the city. There are about 1,385,000 people in the borough, comprised of pre-dominantly Latinos (about 53% of the population) and African Americans (about 36% of the population). “Drop out factories”, a term assigned to many schools with high dropout rates, have been increasingly prevalent in poor neighborhoods including the Bronx. In a press release titled “Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health Disparities: The Caseof Youth Residing in the Bronx” written by Vincent Guilamo-Ramos, Jane Lee, and Laryssa Husiak, “Adolescents residing in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, including many areas of the Bronx, have a greater likelihood of dropping out of school. Given the clear relationship between educational attainment and health disparities, school dropout is a significant social welfare issue in the Bronx—an area with a high school dropout rate (31%) more than double the national average (15%).” (p 10). It is noted later in the article that girls who drop out of school may be more vulnerable to contracting HIV.

In a neoliberal society which assigns blame for people’s struggles on the individual, such as in the idea that “poverty is a private affair”, young women of color are faced with a difficult situation. (Farmer, 32). If they do not educate themselves on topics including their own health, it ends up being their fault despite the broken education system. If they are poor, it is their own fault and their families’ fault for not working hard enough, despite the many structures keeping poor people (especially poor people of color) in the same poor neighborhoods. This perception can deter women of color from seeking knowledge and help regarding their health and safety within institutions such as their schools, along with their school perhaps not even having sufficient resources to support them. (Farmer, 106).  Beyond this, once young women are already struggling with HIV/AIDs, they may be hesitant to seek help due to the stigma against those with the diseases due to the blame often placed upon the individual rather than on the factors rendering them more vulnerable and what they may lose. “Many poor women with HIV often feel AIDs-related stigma might erode the social supports upon which they depend on for survival. Thus they may avoid obtaining critically important care…” With the neoliberal mindset, if young women contract HIV/AIDs, it is seen as their own fault for being too sexually promiscuous or ignorant on how to protect themselves.  

In what ways can there be a push toward supporting young women of color in getting the access they need to knowledge and support with their health? For starters, with the existing health and sex education classes, there can be more tailoring of lesson plans to incorporate the struggles low income students go through and health factors particular to them. Lesson plans must be relevant enough concerning the issues youth in particular areas face, as well as avoid a strictly neoliberal approach. While looking over the NYC Department of Education’s HIV/AIDs curriculum for 2013, it is evident that lesson plans problematically individualize ways in which to combat HIV/AIDs and places the responsibility of vulnerability to the diseases on students’ actions rather than on structural oppression as seen in various chapters, such as in one titled “How is Abstinence from Sexual Intercourse Both a Health Decision and a Reflection of Personal Values?”. This title not only focuses on the "personal", but also has "slut-shaming" undertones which is more often inflicted against women rather than men. In a chapter titled “What are the Social and Economic Issues Related to HIV?”, which would seem to have the potential to discuss the impact of poverty on HIV/AIDs, the focus seems to be on what has been already done by policies and organizations to combat HIV/AIDs rather than on what more needs to be done and what structures continue to allow for the diseases to target poor communities with majority people of color.

Having more attention paid to the specific risk factors for poor women is imperative. Concluding the press release by Guilamo-Ramos, Lee, and Husiak, current programs and initiatives that target youth more vulnerable to HIV/AIDs list “The Young Men’s Health Initiative”, but does not list a program specific to providing poor young women (specifically African American and Latino women) with the tools and health services to understand their specific risk factors. There needs to be a greater push toward providing poor women of color with quality education and services, as they have specific risk factors that need to be fully addressed. Hopefully, there will also be a greater push by government policies for public schools in low income areas to receive the funding needed to address their issues, as well as allocate those funds appropriately to ensure these students receive a higher quality education.