MINI REVIEW article
Front. Reprod. Health
Sec. HIV and STIs
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frph.2025.1580783
This article is part of the Research TopicReproductive Infectious Diseases: Matters Across the Spectrum of Reproductive HealthView all 7 articles
Menstrual Health and Menstrual Equity for Women living with HIV: A Minireview
Provisionally accepted
- University of North Carolina Hospitals, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States
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Given the availability ART and increased life spans of people with HIV, women living with HIV (WWH) now experience all reproductive transitions. A major component of all reproductive transitions is managing changes in vaginal bleeding. There is significant overlap between the socioeconomic, cultural, and stigma-associated barriers to safe bleeding management--or menstrual equity--and safe management of HIV. However, little has been written on the experiences of WLWH and their experiences of menstrual, postpartum, and perimenopausal bleeding, specifically regarding access to supplies, safe spaces, and bias-free options counseling. This review summarizes existing literature on menstrual health in WLWH, highlights the synergies between HIV and menstrual equity, and places a call to action to improve knowledge and support in this nascent, vital, and blended field of menstrual equity for those living with HIV.
Keywords: Menstrual Equity, Menstrual health, stigma, human immunodeficiency virus, Gynecology
Received: 21 Feb 2025; Accepted: 18 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Darivemula and Rahangdale. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Shilpa Melanie Darivemula, University of North Carolina Hospitals, Chapel Hill, 27514, North Carolina, United States
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.