HIV Diagnoses Among Transgender People in the United States by Race/Ethnicity, 2009-2014

A 2019 systematic review and meta-analysis found that an estimated 14% of transgender women have HIV. By race/ethnicity, an estimated 44% of black/African American transgender women, 26% of Hispanic/Latina transgender women, and 7% of white transgender women have HIV.g
Among the 3 million HIV testing events reported to CDC in 2017, the percentage of transgender people who received a new HIV diagnosis was 3 times the national average.
Nearly two thirds of transgender women and men surveyed by the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) in 2014 and 2015 from 28 jurisdictions reported never testing for HIV.

Certain behaviors and socioeconomic factors can affect outcomes, such as having multiple sex partners, anal or vaginal sexi without protection (like a condom or medicine to prevent or treat HIV), and sharing needles or syringes to inject hormones or drugs. Additional factors include commercial sex work, mental health issues, incarceration, homelessness, unemployment, and high levels of substance misuse compared to the general population.

Many transgender people face stigma, discrimination, social rejection, and exclusion that prevent them from fully participating in society, including accessing health care, education, employment, and housing, as well as violence and lack of family support. These factors affect the health and well-being of transgender people, placing them at increased risk for HIV.

Transgender-specific data are limited. Some federal, state, and local agencies do not collect or have incomplete data on transgender individuals. Using the two-step data collection method of asking for sex assigned at birth and current gender identity can help increase the likelihood that transgender people are correctly identified in HIV surveillance programs. Accurate data on transgender status can lead to more effective public health actions.

Lack of knowledge about transgender issues by health care providers can be a barrier for transgender people who receive an HIV diagnosis and are seeking quality treatment and care services. Few health care providers receive proper training or are knowledgeable about transgender health issues and their unique needs. This can lead to limited health care access and negative health care encounters.

SURVIVAL SEX-WORK KITS

The DC Trans Coalition found that 23% of Black transgender people were physically or sexually assaulted by police because they were perceived to be transgender and involved in the sex trade. Another report, Meaningful Work, found that nearly 40% of Black and Black Multiracial transgender folks who have experience exchanging sex were subjected to pervasive harassment, violence, and arrest.

When violence is committed against sex workers, police often refuse to investigate. In Los Angeles, Black sex workers were targeted for nearly three decades. Police officers responded by coding case files “No Human Involved.” Sex workers remain targeted and shamed, and Black women continue to feel the brunt of it—of the 41 sex workers murdered in the United States in 2015, 17 were Black and 12 were transgender women.

If you engage in survival sex work in Dallas or surrounding counties, or know someone who does, we have kits readily available with the necessities needed to ensure a clean working environment.

p. 214.815.5769

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Meeting people where they are and offering them necessities needed to ensure a clean std free working environment.

Speak out about violence against sex workers, including violence from police, institutions, clients, and intimate partners, while challenging the myth that sex work is inherently gender-based violence.

Safety Check-In

The main challenges that sex workers face are the criminalized status of sex work in the United States and associated stigma that results in direct and institutional violence against sex workers.