Health problems of lesbian women

Lesbians are visible to society health care providers, and researchers as w omen, not as an identified sub-group of women. Lesbian invisibility contrib utes to their collective increased vulnerability, as evidenced by decreased societal and environmental resource availability, threats to social connec tedness, and barriers in accessing health care. The factors that have led t o increased vulnerability have shown up in risks of violence, cancer, HIV/A IDS, and chemical dependency among lesbians.