Submitted on Monday, 10/11/2021, at 5:41 PM

“Black women who are living with HIV/AIDS and navigating the [COVID-19] pandemic shoulder multiple burdens,” writes Jolly in an article for The Lily: “psychosocial strains, the stress of isolation, stigma and the trauma of overlapping inequalities of food insecurity, financial hardships, unemployment and inadequate access to quality care.”

Jolly is a postdoctoral fellow and visiting assistant professor of American studies and of Black studies at Amherst, as well as a writer and a doula. Her article draws from the eight years she has spent interviewing women with HIV, particularly Black women, who were reported in 2019 to be “14.5 times as likely to die from HIV infection as White women,” she notes.

The article focuses especially on Black immigrant women—many of whom work in health care and service jobs that increase their risk of COVID exposure—and on the ways in which “immigration status is a factor that magnifies the obstacles faced by HIV-positive women.”

“My interviews with HIV-positive women,” Jolly writes, “serve as potent reminders that to advocate for them, we must prioritize holistic, culturally sensitive approaches that appropriately address their unique needs.”