Highlights:
2008:
- Founding meeting of Positive Women’s Network- USA, 28 women living with HIV, including women of trans experience, gather for herstoric meeting
- Released Speaking Up and Standing for Change, the first ever set of policy recommendations authored entirely by US women living with HIV submitted to a sitting Presidential administration: the Obama-Biden transition team. Read here.
2009:
- Cofounded the 30 for 30 Campaign
- Co-authored Critical Issues for Women and HIV: Health Policy and the Development of a National AIDS Strategy
- Met with Jeffrey Crowley, newly appointed Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy, to discuss priorities of US women living with HIV
2010:
- Two PWN members appointed to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA)
- Released a gender monitoring critique of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy
2011:
- Released our federal policy agenda for U.S. women living with HIV: economic justice, HIV criminalization reform, prevention justice, reproductive justice, and securing women-centered care
- Published Diagnosis, Sexuality, and Choice, findings and policy recommendations from a survey of US women living with HIV
- Began to serve as advisor to the National Network to end Domestic Violence to help create a curriculum to cross-train HIV and domestic violence providers
- Launch work on media accountability and representation of people living with HIV
2012:
- Hosted Southern Summit to train 50 women living with HIV from the 9 Deep South states in leadership skills
- Helped organize a PACHA meeting on women and HIV and secured a resolution on women and HIV
- Served as one of two US community partners for the 2012 International AIDS Conference in Washington, DC, along with the Black AIDS Institute, hosting a press conference to release new data on the intersections between HIV, violence, and trauma for women.
- Appeared on Melissa Harris-Perry’s show for World AIDS Day to talk about HIV, stigma, and women
- Became an autonomous organization led entirely by women living with HIV – board of directors are 100% WLHIV, including women of trans experience and staff are majority women living with HIV and majority women of color
2013:
- Released a three-year strategic plan
- Published Unspoken: Sexuality, Romance and Reproductive Freedom for Women Living with HIV, a report addressing findings, policy analysis, and recommendations based on a community-based research project led by women living with HIV
- Formally affiliated five regional PWN-USA chapters
- Partnered with UCSF Women’s HIV Program to co-convene a Strategy Meeting on Trauma-Informed Primary Care for US Women Living with HIV
2014:
- Members coauthored a paper with Anna Forbes, MSS, on new prevention technologies, published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Women’s Health Issues
- In response to murders of Cicely Bolden and Elisha Henson, PWN called for a National Day of Action to end Violence against Women Living with HIV <link>
- Three more PWN members appointed to PACHA
- Hosted first ever National Leadership Summit for 200 women living with HIV, a three day skills building training for advocates (link to Summit report)
- Counter Narrative Project, HIV Prevention Justice Alliance, PWN-USA, Transgender Law Center, and Women with a Vision jointly released a statement on Intersectionality, HIV Justice, and the Future of Our Movement
2015:
- National HIV/AIDS Strategy was updated to include some of PWN-USA’s priorities
- PWN coauthored a peer-reviewed journal article From Treatment to Healing: The Promise of Trauma-Informed Primary Care with Dr. Eddy Machtinger and others
- Helped organize counter conference at National HIV Prevention Conference with HIV Prevention Justice Alliance in Atlanta demanding increased focused on sex workers, transgender people, immigrants, and others in National HIV/AIDS Strategy
2016:
- Partnered with SERO to host HIV is Not a Crime II National Training Academy in Huntsville, AL
- Launched PWN Academy, a skills certification program for women living with HIV
- Released Securing the Future of Women-Centered Care, a policy and research report based on data collected by women living with HIV
- Hosted second National Leadership Summit, attended by 250 women living with HIV
- PWN Colorado successfully led reform of HIV criminalization laws
- Launched dismantling racism curriculum and workgroup for white women living with HIV
- Released #PWNVotes electoral organizing toolkit
- Launched Black women living with HIV workgroup
2017:
- Launched weekly action alerts to mobilize HIV community on timely advocacy issues
- Launched monthly policy update
- Released Bodily Autonomy Framework
- Launched Policy Fellowship program to train women living with HIV as policy advocates
- Released call for HIV organizations to join the Expanded Sanctuary movement
- Preparing to establish 501(c)(4): the PWN-USA Action Fund