Vector soliton propagation in circularly birefringent fibers was studied by perturbation analysis and numerically. The results show that in presence of both Raman self-frequency shift and group velocity difference between circularly polarized components the Raman cross-polarization term causes an energy transfer from the slower to the faster circular component of vector solitons. This effect leads to polarization stabilization of circularly polarized vector solitons. (C) 2012 Optical Society of America