The Women’s Health Equity Research Track, launched in 2019 under the leadership of Sahnah Lim, PhD, MPH, is housed within the Section for Health Equity in NYU Langone’s Division of Health and Behavior. The overall goal of the track is to improve gender-related health equity through research and action.

The Women’s Health Equity Research Track’s core principles include community engagement, trauma-informed research, and application of the theory of intersectionality.

Gender-Based Violence Among Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders

This study is a National Institutes of Health (NIH)‒funded administrative supplement to establish the Women’s Health Equity Research Track at the Section for Health Equity. Our first objective is to understand the health and service needs of Asian and Latinx survivors of sex trafficking in New York City. Our second objective is to conduct a systematic review of gender-based violence among Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (NH/PI) women and girls, specifically focusing on non-partner sexual assault and child sex abuse. Our systematic review will inform the development of a national strategic plan on gender-based violence for Asian American and NH/PI women and girls with the input of the National Advisory Committee of the NYU Center for the Study of Asian American Health.

Understanding Factors Influencing HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Uptake Among Patients at a Safety Net Hospital in New York City

Women of color in the United States face a disproportionate burden of HIV. Despite its demonstrated effectiveness in preventing HIV, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake has been slow among women of color. While barriers to PrEP uptake have been documented. ,. Under the direction of Robert A. Pitts, MD, we aim to qualitatively understand factors influencing PrEP uptake among low-income, limited-English-proficient, women of color in New York City.

Definitions of Sexual Consent and Assault Among Asian Undergraduate Students in the New York City Area

Asian American college students may have a unique understanding of sexual violence. Generally, Asian Americans display low help-seeking behaviors, including underreporting of sexual violence, due to various structural and cultural factors. To date, there is little research on sexual violence among Asian American populations, and disaggregated data by Asian subgroups is often unavailable. Our study seeks to assess definitions of sexual consent and sexual assault to determine perceived barriers to help-seeking among Asian American undergraduate students in New York City through qualitative approaches. We aim to elicit perspectives from Asian American subgroups, represented by approximately 60 East, Southeast, and South Asian men and women, through in-depth-interviews.

Sexual Violence Among South Asian Young Adults in the New York City Area

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the entire population of New York City and particularly on mental health outcomes among survivors of gender-based violence. The shelter-in-place order and trauma from coping with the pandemic can trigger participants about past experiences of sexual assault. Anecdotally, South Asian young adults in and around New York City have started to disclose their histories of sexual assault on social media outlets such as Twitter and Instagram in large numbers during the pandemic. Responses from social media participants range from being supportive to hostile, which can further exacerbate existing mental health disorders.

Accordingly, we seek to assess sexual violence attitudes, sexual violence victimization, help-seeking behavior, and mental health outcomes among South Asian young adults residing or staying in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Because of cultural and religious factors that stigmatize sexuality and sexual violence among South Asians, it is critical to assess these factors in order to develop interventions to support survivors as well as develop interventions to address harmful attitudes and behaviors for prevention—particularly during stressful periods such as global pandemics. Individuals are recruited through social media outreach and asked to complete an online survey.