Women Living With HIV Launch Human Rights Survey

Call for Integrating Sexual and Reproductive Health Services With HIV Services to Address Epidemic Among Women



Please take the survey and spread the word!


National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day 2010 comes just weeks after the United Nations announced that HIV is the leading cause of death among women globally.


In the U.S., a woman tests positive for HIV every 35 minutes, and nearly one-third of all domestic HIV infections are among women -- up from 8% in 1987. AIDS continues to be the leading cause of death among African-American women ages 25 to 34. Yet the general perception is that women are not vulnerable to contracting HIV -- and women are dying as a result.



Multiple members of the U.S. Positive Women's Network (PWN), a national membership body of women living with HIV in the United States, have personal experience with this issue. "Everyone is at risk for HIV," says Demetra Tennison, Peer Educator at Women Rising Project in Austin, TX. "But many providers don't perceive women as being at risk or are uncomfortable talking about it. I told my doctor that my husband was positive, and he didn't offer me a test. I was diagnosed late and got into care late, because of a missed opportunity on my physician's part."

Advocates specifically call for integration of sexual and reproductive health services with HIV services. "Early HIV diagnosis means less transmission and better health outcomes. Yet we see missed opportunities for HIV prevention and diagnosis throughout the medical system," says Dr. Monica Gandhi, director of HIV Consult Services at San Francisco General Hospital. "Women show up for sexual and reproductive health services multiple times a year. Every one of those appointments -- for pap smears, contraception care, and routine check-ups -- is an opportunity for HIV education, screening for HIV risk factors like domestic violence, and testing."

The PWN also notes that over half of all people living with HIV are not in regular medical care, and that co-location of sexual and reproductive health services with HIV services has enormous potential to transform women's ability to access care.

HIV-positive women across the United States have organized to urge the Obama Administration to finish health care reform, demand a gender-sensitive National HIV/AIDS Strategy, declare HIV an urgent crisis facing women and demand, the immediate appointment of an openly HIV-positive Black woman to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA). Events will occur in locations as diverse as Philadelphia, PA; Oakland, CA; San Diego, CA; Washington, NC; Washington, DC; and Boulder, CO.

Advocates also stress that an effective response to the domestic HIV epidemic must address social factors that put some communities at disproportionate risk. "We have the tools to end the HIV epidemic. What we need is political will to address structural issues including homophobia, gender inequity, and the deep racial and economic disparities that drive the rising rates of HIV among our most marginalized communities," says Waheedah Shabazz-El, a Muslim and Philadelphia-based trainer with the Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project, who was diagnosed in 2003.


In honor of National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, the PWN has launched a survey to track the extent to which HIV-positive women's human rights are being realized in the United States. This survey is the first in a series, and focuses on testing and disclosure, reproductive justice for women with HIV, and the criminalization of HIV.


Please take the survey and spread the word!


Learn more about the PWN -- and join the PWN's mailing list.


This article was provided by Positive Women's Network USA.

Quick Note to you & whoever reads these things anymore - CHANGE IS A COMING....WATCH & SEE's MySpace Blog |

To the Mothers and Fathers,

Take care and love yourself !

Hats off to you, if you have a child or children w/ special needs. Look, being a mother of a child with complex special needs is a constant thrill ride with many up but some devastating lows (trust me).

You have a tough job ahead but if you are a parent or a mom-to be then you already know,how precious life really is and the reward man, the rewards are so much higher.

I want to tell you today that you are a amazing parent and I not only applaud you but I love you for doing what so many other can't or unwilling to even try.

Much Love,

Jamila

GRASSROOTS & SOCIAL NETWORKING AT WORK: UTAH's BILL GETS RETRACTED

Hello!

Thank to everyone that chose to post on Facebook and Twitter or via personal messages asking the question, how to help. As you can see, we all had a hand in making this change and if you didn't believe before please know that from the ground up you can do anything and when you work together,well just look what can get accomplished.

please read the email below:

Email from President, Advocates for Youth

"You Did It!
I wanted to let you know that the Utah state legislature withdrew H.B. 12, the bill that would prosecute women for illegal abortions and some miscarriages.

And it happened because of you!

Last week, through Amplify, we asked for your help in calling national attention to this dangerous piece of legislation. Your efforts focused public pressure on this bill and forced Utah politicians to back down under national scrutiny.

This story would not have received national attention without your hard work, and I wanted to thank you personally for your help.

Over the past 10 days, you proved the true power of grassroots activism and online organizing. Thousands of Amplify readers and their friends posted this story to Facebook, starting conversations all across the country. Thousands more sent it out over Twitter. The details of Utah's attack on women's rights started to build momentum on some of the most influential blogs, from DailyKos to the Huffington Post, leading to coverage in the New York Times and by ABC news.

Because of this media firestorm, Utah Governor Gary Herbert expressed reservations about some of the bill's more extreme provisions. And yesterday, the state legislature withdrew the bill!

We know that legislative attacks on reproductive health and women's rights will continue, in Utah and elsewhere in the United States. But, this week you forced politicians to answer for some of the most potentially dangerous provisions in H.B. 12 - and you won.

Together, we will continue to work to ensure that all people - everywhere - have have access to the information and services they need to protect their health an lives.

In solidarity,

James Wagoner
President
Advocates for Youth

To be a part of the conversation join BUILD to BLEND on Twitter http://twitter.com/BUILDTOBLEND

For more info try these links,

Advocates for youth http://advocatesforyouth.org/
Amplify http://amplify.org/

Disclosure Etiquette, Part 1: Do I Have to Kiss and Tell?

Deciding to share your serostatus is one of the most
difficult things a person living with HIV has to do.

First Published: 2/11/2010 from our friends @ http://blackaids.org/

This is the first in a series of articles from Black Aids Institute exploring the etiquette associated with telling other people that you have HIV/AIDS.

Over the past 20 years, I have watched people living with HIV/AIDS suffer and struggle with disclosing their status. The fear of rejection keeps many of us quiet but causes others to reveal intimate information at inappropriate times and places--such as on a first date in a cozy restaurant, with the people at the next table dipping into the conversation, as an HIV-negative friend once experienced when her dinner companion told her he was HIV-positive.

Deciding to share your serostatus is one of the most difficult things a person living with HIV has to do. Unlike on television, where reality-show participants sometimes disclose their HIV status in such a way that allows editors to script the conclusions, real-life disclosures occur in real time; the outcomes are uncertain.

We wonder: What will this person think of me? Will they reject me? Try to hurt me? Wonder what "horrible" thing I did to deserve my fate? And after sharing my most intimate business, will I lose the relationship?

When and whether we decide to tell often depends on how we believe the person will react. If we think the person will be cool about our status, we're more likely to tell, or to tell sooner. If we think we'll be rejected or get some other negative reaction, we may either consider not telling or actually not tell at all. Our approach also hinges on how vulnerable we are willing to feel and how much we are willing to risk in the relationship. That said, I do not believe that it is ever acceptable to trick or harm anyone.

Recently a colleague shared findings from a small research study suggesting that people who tell others about their HIV status may not always experience as much stigma from their loved ones as they feel within themselves. This makes me wonder whether part of what we dread is having someone reinforce feelings we've already internalized about living with HIV/AIDS. I know that after two decades of absorbing messages that I am "not good enough" and/or just not "normal," I have internalized feelings of shame, guilt and helplessness. Is this part of what makes disclosure so difficult--that I dread learning that other people will think the same negative things about me that I sometimes secretly think about myself?

I came of age as a person with HIV/AIDS in an era where I was indoctrinated that it was my responsibility to disclose early and often, whether or not it was my intention ever to have sex with the person I was telling. Intellectually I understand this approach, but emotionally it puts me in a straitjacket. What if I don't want to disclose to you? What if I want to become friends first? And if I'm not interested in sleeping with you, why do I have to tell you my personal business?

I had--and still have--nothing to lose and everything to gain by disclosing my HIV status; I am willing to risk much to regain my personhood and shed my lingering sense of internalized oppression. But I have to admit that had I gotten infected today, I might have approached my life much differently. An HIV diagnosis is no longer the end of the world. Many people now know that if you are diagnosed early and do what the doctor tells you, you can live a pretty normal life--and life span. You do have to learn how to protect yourself and your partners, but maybe you don't have to tell everything to everybody.

Given this new reality, I am reconsidering my options. I want the choice of
telling my friends and colleagues--or not; maybe it's none of your business. And
for once, it would be nice if my prospective partners took responsibility for
their own health and asked me if I had HIV so that I wouldn't have to carry the
burden of telling them first.

Unlike what we see on reality television, life cannot be edited or played back to change the result or make us into someone we are not. People living with HIV/AIDS should have the option of deciding when and where we will reveal our HIV status. We should never do it because we're following some rigid rule from a bygone era. But when and under what circumstances should it happen? The answer isn't always clear. Check back on the fourth Tuesday of each month as I share my thoughts about the etiquette of when and why we should tell.


Vanessa Johnson, J.D., who has volunteered and worked in the HIV/AIDS field for approximately 14 years, is executive vice president of the National Association of People With AIDS (NAPWA).

Sexual Assault,Domestic Violence & Stalking Conference This April

End Violence Against Women International(EVAW) is having a conference April 19-21, 2010 in Buckhead,Georgia.

Join fellow Men and Women in the various field of Sexual Assault from law enforcement personnel, prosecutors, victim advocates, judges, parole and probation officers, rape crisis workers, medical personnel, faith community members, educators and others(taken from site)

**scholarships and continuing education credits are available**(depending on your state and discipline)

There will be many featured speakers including four from Minnesota

Laura Williams, National Technical Assistance Project Director, Sexual Violence Justice Institute (SVJI), Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault, St. Paul, MN

Ann Turner, Aging & Disability Specialist, National Clearinghouse on Abuse in Later Life project (NCALL), North Branch, MN

Sara G. Thome, Project Attorney, Sexual Violence Justice Institute, Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault, St. Paul, MN

Sgt. Paul Schnell, Saint Paul Police Department, St. Paul, MN


If you would like to attend or need more information about the conference please go to http://www.evawintl.org/conferencedetail.aspx?confid=8

Sexual Health Report Card - full list - Sperling's Best Places

What a Gem!

Good Afternoon,

As I continue on my search for comparing cities that I and a few of my collegues may potentially want to live in I came across this Sexual Health Report Card - full list - Sperling's Best Places
and thought not only is this a great concept but I wish I knew about this sooner.



I am anticipating the next report,not just for the details but for the ability it provides of choice making and awareness.



If we can make a conscious effort to do something better, different, helpful or proactive when we do make our moves in turn each step can help create a environment where Sexual Violence is not tolerated but more importantly Sexual Violence is talked about.


Take a look to see how you city or neighborhood ranks and upon doing so stay encouraged to get involved.

You can start today! Look locally to help move your State, City, School,Community Program move forward.