| Project Information |
| Project Title: |
Epidemiology of sexual activity, sexual function, and sexual satisfaction among women living with HIV: A critical feminist scoping review |
| Period: |
from: 2017-04-01
to: 2018-03-31
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| Principal Investigator(s): |
Carter, Allison Jane
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| Co-Investigators: |
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| Supervisors: |
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| Previous Investigators/Supervisors: |
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| Institution: |
Simon Fraser University (Burnaby, B.C.)
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| Department: |
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| Agency: |
Canadian Institutes of Health Research |
| Program: |
Travel Awards - Institute Community Support |
| Keywords: |
AIDS, EPIDEMIOLOGY, FEMINISM, HEALTH, HIV, LE DOMAINE DE LA SANTÉ, POPULATION HEALTH, SANTE DES POPULATIONS, SANTÉ DES POPULATIONS, SCOPING REVIEW, SEXUAL ACTIVITY, SEXUAL FUNCTION, SEXUAL SATISFACTION, SEXUALITY, SIDA, WOMEN |
| Abstract: |
Utilizing critical feminist theory, we conducted a scoping review of two decades worth of epidemiological research on sexual activity, function, and satisfaction among women living with HIV (WLWH). Twenty-nine studies involving 10,035 WLWH were found. Forty-eight percent were mixed-gendered studies that generally overlooked the different sexual realities of women and men. While samples were diverse with respect to age, ethnicity, and socio-economic status, studies provided a largely North American and Euro-centric, heterosexual, cis-gender picture of sexuality, with multiple underlying assumptions (e.g., sex-as-penetration, sex-as-mandatory). The reviewed studies suggest that women experience declines in sexual activity, function, and satisfaction following HIV diagnosis. The extent of such declines, however, is varied, with numerous contextual forces shaping women's sexual well-being. While studies are frequently framed through a medical lens of individual "disease", findings revealed little evidence that clinical markers of HIV, such as viral load and CD4 cell count, predict sexual outcomes. Rather, women's experiences of sexuality are primarily influenced by the effects of HIV-related stigma (e.g., shame, fear) intersecting with other social, economic, and life-course factors, including romantic relationships, violence and mental health, poverty and addiction, and aging and menopause. These factors, however, remain under-researched in favour of biological determinants. Moreover, women who deviated from heteronormative expectations of 'healthy' sexuality (i.e., high levels of desire, arousal, penetrative sex, orgasm) were pathologized as dysfunctional and in need of fixing. We offer several recommendations for research and support concerning sexuality for WLWH that is affirming of diversity and grounded in women's sexual realities and rights.
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| Funding Information |
| Fiscal
Year |
Amount |
| 2017-18 |
$2,500
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