Alia Abdul-Hamid Al-Tayyib, Sara N. Glick, Erin C. Wilson, Tess Olsson, Alexis V. Rivera, Yingbo Ma, Colleen Leonard, Tanner Nassau, Narquis Barak, Willi McFarland
However, without increased access to economic opportunities and stable housing and decreases in discrimination and harassment, existing HIV prevention and care services may not address the HIV epidemic among women of transgender experience and transfeminine people.
Women of transgender experience and transfeminine people (WTE/TFP) are disproportionately impacted by HIV. Between July 2023 and May 2024, a total of 2059 eligible WTE/TFP across nine project areas participated in the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance (NHBS-Trans) project. Among the 1993 participants with valid HIV test results, 35.7% were living with HIV. Detrimental social and economic factors were common, including low income (57.0%), unemployment (35.4%), homelessness (31.8%), physical abuse and harassment (25.1%), and avoiding seeking healthcare due to discrimination (22.4%). Continued efforts to increase access to HIV testing and prevention strategies are vital to decrease the number of new infections to end the HIV epidemic. However, without increased access to economic opportunities and stable housing and decreases in discrimination and harassment, existing HIV prevention and care services may not address the HIV epidemic among women of transgender experience and transfeminine people.