December 11 marks the 18th anniversary of my diagnosis (1991), and I can honestly say that with every passing day I learn something new about HIV, sexual health, health, people, and life. It had been over a year and a half since I spoke to a college audience when I went to Fort Hays State University last week.  At the end of the presentation, I let them in on another secret: one year ago, I was sexually assaulted. Just because I am HIV-positive does not mean I am any less human.

Certainly, there are things that I wished I had done differently so that I would not have been in that situation (yes I had been drinking, but no that does not make me to blame). If it were not me, there would have been someone else: one in four college-aged women in the United States receives unwanted sexual contact during their time at school. I had managed to avoid becoming a statistic when I finished college four years ago, but there is only so much you can predict out of life.

Most of the discussion around sexual assault concerns the health risks to the one who was assaulted. I shared my story to demonstrate that any sexual assault carries risk both ways – when he left tears outside my vagina that left me unable to walk, sit, or climb stairs comfortably for four days, he also put himself at risk for HIV. (Let me say I use the word assault here because I cannot clearly say in what manner these injuries were conferred, and to which is a moot point).

If you have any familiarity with the emergency contraception medication that is aimed to prevent pregnancy within 72 hours of unprotected sex, then HIV post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) should be familiar in the sense that it is a regimen you take to prevent HIV infection after you think you might have been exposed to the virus. I spent part of the 72 hours after the incident making sure my assailant knew about this option, and I heard that he had sought the treatment.  It will be the kindest act of my life, no doubt.

To learn more about HIV post-exposure prophylaxis, visit this site from the World Health Organization.

This is a guest blog post by Nina Martinez

Nina Martinez, 26, is a public health student at Emory University in Atlanta with a focus in epidemiology. Nina’s premature birth facilitated the need for a blood transfusion that infected her with HIV when she was six weeks old in San Francisco, California.