Pain, courage, and wisdom: stories of women living with HIV

This is a descriptive study of women with Human Immune Deficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Women have been neglected in social science research and literature on HIV/AIDS (Anastos & Marte, 1989, Corea, 1992). Unfortunately even when women with HIV / AIDS have been studied it has been in relation to their role as transmitters of the disease (through prostitution and child birth) not as suffers of the deadly disease themselves (Carovano, 1991). This study recounts an insider's perspective of the learnings, strengths, and challenges of women living with HIV through their stories. Themes identified through qualitative analysis in these stories provide policy recommendations for practitioners and directions for further social science research.