HIV impacts all communities regardless of race, gender identity, sexual identity, range of abilities, or class. However, African-Americans and people of African descent in the US bear the overwhelming burden of HIV across all other demographics, including Black women, Black LGBTQ individuals and men who have sex with men (also called MSM). Stigma and discrimination from inside and outside of the community, religion, poverty, isolation, lack of access to healthcare, disproportionate incarceration rates, and racism impacts the rate of HIV/AIDS in the community, despite having comparable risk behaviors to other racial and ethnic groups. Additionally, In 2012, black females were murdered at a rate nearly two and a half times higher than white females (Violence Policy Center, 2012). Since exposure to violence is a risk factor for HIV/AIDS, this leaves African-Americans highly impacted by HIV/AIDS (see Community Specific Information below for further discussion).
