Women and AIDS at twenty

AIDS, first reported in women in 1981, has decidedly become a major concern for women and girls. Early misconceptions about women's perceived lack of HIV risk and the characterization of AIDS as a disease primarily affecting gay men thwarted attention afforded to women's issues early in the epidemic. Today, women account for 32% of new HIV diagnoses in the United States. Globally, women make up more than half of those infected with HIV/AIDS. As women shoulder an increasing burden of HIV, research, medical and activist responses to women's issues increase. And while more is known about and being done about women and HIV today, basic questions and gaps remain.