It’s time to face the women with herpes facts. Health studies and reports show that the black community has a sexually transmitted disease epidemic on their hands. For the black community, 39 percent of all African Americans are infected, compared with 12 percent for whites.
Statistically, it is shown that black women, particularly between the ages of 20-49 are more likely to have herpes than any other race. About 50 percent of all black women have herpes.
Some people in the black community have speculated that a continued lack of good decision-making has allowed the spread of STDs. Many women will sleep with a man who has had numerous sexual partners or has children with multiple women and not consider the severity of their actions.
Black women must take precautions to protect themselves. Ten-thousand black women die yearly from sexually transmitted diseases. We need to start being more open and honest about our sex lives.
So what do we do? If you know you have genital herpes, you definitely should avoid sex when symptoms or sores are present. Remember that genital herpes can still be transmitted when sores are not present. Using condoms consistently and correctly, and limiting the number of people you have sex with are also important to limiting the spread of the disease.