July 15, 2016: Members and staff of Positive Women’s Network – USA are representing US women living with HIV at the International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa all week! Whether you are in Durban or back home, you can follow us on Twitter and add your two cents by using the hashtags #PWNspeaks and #AIDS2016!  THROUGHOUT AIDS 2016 Stop by the Common Threads exhibit booth in the Global Village – booth 418 to purchase handmade jewelry by US women living with HIV.  The amazing Venita Ray, PWN-USA Board member is serving as a rapporteur for AIDS2016. Don’t miss her on Friday’s closing plenary!  Follow us at #pwnspeaks #AIDS2016, WhatsApp us, or tweet us: @uspwn for real-time updates. Here is where you will find us in Durban

bb2016textlogo400pxSUNDAY JULY 17

Beyond Blame pre-conference

9 AM – 5:30 PM Blue Waters Hotel, 175 Snell Parade, Marine Parade, Durban Register at Eventbrite Beyond Blame @AIDS2016: Challenging HIV Criminalisation is a one day pre-conference for activists, advocates, healthcare professionals, lawyers, policymakers, and anyone else interested in working to end HIV criminalization. The meeting is being convened by HIV JUSTICE WORLDWIDE – comprising ARASA, Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, GNP+, HIV Justice Network, ICW, Sero and PWN-USA – with local partner AIDS Legal Network, and in collaboration with UNAIDS and.UNDP. Keynote speaker: Justice Edwin Cameron of the South African Constitutional Court. Attendance at the event is free of charge but will require pre-registration. Learn more here.  Pre-Conference Plenary: No More Lip Service: Trans Access, Equity and Rights, Now! Sunday July 17,8:30-6:00pm ICC Session Room 7 Ford Foundation event: Challenging HIV Criminalisation Globally Sunday July 17, 8:30-2:00pm, ICC Durban. PWN-USA HIV-Reproductive Justice Legal Fellow Arneta Rogers will speak at this invitation-only event

unnamedNothing Without Us: The Women Who Will End AIDS Film Screening

Sunday, July 17, 6:30 PM Freedom Cafe, 43 St. Mary’s Ave., Durban From New York to Nigeria, from Burundi to the American South, women on two continents have been at the forefront of the global AIDS movement for over 30 years. Unflinching in their fight for a place at the table, women have shaped grassroots groups like ACT UP in the US and played a vital role in HIV prevention and the treatment access movement throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Harriet Hirshorn’s documentary, Nothing Without Us: The Women Who Will End AIDS, tells the story of these unsung heroes through archival footage and interviews with activists, scientists, and scholars in the US and Africa. The film explores the unaddressed dynamics that keep women around the world at risk for HIV, while giving voice to the remarkable women who have solutions for ending this decades-old pandemic. The film also features PWN-USA member leaders! We hope you’ll join us for a screening of this inspiring film, followed by a discussion with director Harriet Hirshorn and guests. RSVP here.

TUESDAY JULY 19

Beyond Blame: A Feminist Dialogue on Criminalisation of HIV Transmission, Exposure and Non-disclosure Leadership Workshop

Session Room 9 Tuesday, July 19, 2:30 – 5:00 PM The law is a critical tool for creating an enabling environment for effective responses to HIV and to provide access to justice for those affected by HIV. This workshop examines the range of laws criminalizing exposure, transmission and/or non-disclosure, using feminist analysis to explore the role of power and inequality in their application. Moderator: Michaela Clayton, Namibia Co-Facilitator: Naina Khanna, United States Co-Facilitator: Jacinta Nyachae, Kenya Co-Facilitator: Cécile Kazatchkine, Canada Learn more here.

WEDNESDAY JULY 20

RWP poster IAC eposterPoster session: Securing the Future of Women-Centered Care, a report by Positive Women’s Network – USA

Wednesday, July 20, 12:30-2:30 PM Poster Exhibition Area Check out the findings of a community-based participatory research project, led by 14 women living with HIV on what services WLHIV need to stay engaged in care–on an  8-foot poster!

THURSDAY JULY 21

were still hereWe’re Still Here Film Screening

Global Village Film Screening Room Thursday, July 21, 2:10-3:05 PM Since the beginning of the epidemic, the unique experiences of people born with HIV have been siloed in the world of pediatric HIV care. Their stories often told by the people who watched them grow up. As this generation enters adulthood, it is more important than ever for those born with HIV to speak for themselves and to insert their stories into the history of HIV/AIDS. Furthermore, it is important for people born with HIV in different parts of the world to share their stories with each other and connect across borders. The film follows director and PWN-USA board member Grissel Granados as she embarks on her own journey to seek out other people who were born with HIV and create community where it had out existed before.