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The Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network has commenced a three year research project with funding support from Canadian Institutes of Health Research, HIV/AIDS Community-Based Research Program. The purpose of this study is to better understand the service provision needs of two spirit women in the context of HIV/AIDS and their experiences of homophobia and/or transphobia. This project was inspired by CAAN’s 2005 research report, which illuminated the fact that two-spirit women have experienced homophobia in health care settings. Little is known about these experiences and so the study will seek out individuals who self-identify as two-spirit women, lesbian, queer, bisexual, and male-to-female transgender and gather their stories. By the project’s end, key recommendations for programs and policy as well as fact sheets will be disseminated broadly. Epidemiological trends signal the importance of these service provision needs. Comparing HIV/AIDS in the non-Aboriginal population, females make up a relatively larger proportion of cases of the Aboriginal HIV epidemic, numbering “nearly half (45.0%) of all positive HIV test reports among Aboriginal peoples, compared with 20.0% of reports among non-Aboriginal people.” (CIDPC, May 2005) Women also face particular concerns with regard to poverty, abuse and violence, economic dependence and other factors including in some cases injection drug use. Taken together with the experiences of homophobia in many Aboriginal communities, the service provision needs of two-spirit women is a subject ripe for exploration. Confidentiality and the principles of OCAP (community ownership, control, access, and possession) will guide the Research Team throughout the project, with the voices of participants being given prominence in the research findings. A strict protocol for coding the identities of individuals participating in the study as well as securing the information gathered will be followed, in order to protect their privacy. Collaborating community based organizations will be approached to help recruit participants and enlist the support of local care providers to ensure that they have access to post-survey counseling if desired.
• Two-Spirit women’s experience of homophobia in the context of hiv/aids service provision (PDF 157k)
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The research team overseeing the project benefits from the expertise of a variety of community based and academic individuals who have extensive experience in the field of HIV/AIDS and homophobia-related research. Randy Jackson, Director of Research and Programs at CAAN and Janice Ristock, Professor in Women’s Studies & Associate Dean (Research), University of Manitoba are the co-principal investigators. LaVerne Monette, LLB, who is with the Ontario Aboriginal HIV/AIDS Strategy, Joyce Seto, M.Sc., University of Ottawa, and Shari Brotman, Associate Professor, School of Social Work, McGill University, fill out the team.