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. 2025 Aug 16;25(1):2813.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-23871-1.

Structural disadvantage and HIV risk - comparing risk factors between trans women's partnerships with cis men and trans women sexual partners

Erin C Wilson  1 , Bow Suprasert  2 , Dillon Trujillo  2 , Sofia Sicro  2 , Christopher J Hernandez  3 , Caitlin M Turner  2   4 , Willi McFarland  2   4 , Sean Arayasirikul  5
Affiliations

Structural disadvantage and HIV risk - comparing risk factors between trans women's partnerships with cis men and trans women sexual partners

Erin C Wilson et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Introduction: Little is known about differences in HIV risk for trans women by partner gender, particularly with respect to social determinants of health and partner-level factors that affect behavior. We examined differences in demographic, social determinants, and HIV-related risk behaviors for trans women with cisgender men and trans women sexual partners.

Materials and methods: Data are from a cross-sectional survey of trans women and their sexual partners conducted between April 2020 and January 2021. Interviews were held remotely via videoconference during shelter-in-place ordinances due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This analysis characterized associations between HIV risk and preventive behaviors comparing trans women with cisgender men partners to trans women with trans women partners.

Results: A total of 336 sexual partners were identified from 156 trans women. Trans women with cisgender men partners were significantly more likely to be from racial/ethnic minority populations and all Black/African American and Latina trans women participants had cisgender men partners only. Trans women with cisgender men partners had significantly less education and employment and more incarceration and recidivism than trans women with trans women partners. Trans women and their cisgender men partners had shared experiences of unstable housing, incarceration, and HIV. Trans women with cisgender men partners reported significantly more sex exchange partners, receptive condomless sex, and HIV compared to trans women with trans women partners.

Conclusions: Trans women with cisgender men sexual partners faced higher HIV risk than trans women with trans women sexual partners. These risks may be related to the social and economic drivers that both trans women and their cisgender men partners faced, namely structural racism that may explain barriers to education and employment, along with incarceration and recidivism. Interventions focused on economic stability, workforce development and post incarceration re-entry housing and employment support for trans women and their cisgender men partners may have the most impact on reducing HIV risk and incidence.

Keywords: HIV risk; Sexual partners; Social determinants of health; Stigma; Structural disadvantage; Trans women.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the University of California, San Francisco (IRB No. 18-26447) in compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki. All participants provided signed informed consent to participate. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

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