Social Media Tools: Day of Action to End Violence Against Women with HIV

On October 23, join us in breaking the culture of violence against women with HIV and all women!

Things You Can Do on the October 23 Day of Action:

1. Change your Facebook and/or Twitter profile image to one of the images below
2. Tweet and post on Facebook using the sample tweets and posts below (or create your own) using the Day of Action hashtag #EndVAWHIV
3. Contribute to a flash blog
4. Find an event in your area, or organize your own! Helpful fact sheets here, and talking points below

 

SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLKIT

On October 23, let’s cover Facebook, Twitter, and any other social media we use with messages and images saying ENOUGH!!! to the epidemic of violence – physical as well as structural – against women living with HIV, and demanding solutions. Below are some sample tweets you can use on your own Twitter feeds to help you get started on and around the National Day of Action to End Violence Against Women with HIV. If you’re new to Twitter, this day is a great chance to see, and even jump into, some action! The hashtag for our Day of Action specifically is #EndVAWHIV – use it wherever you can! These posts can be used anytime this month alongside more general hashtags like #DVAM (Domestic Violence Awareness Month) #SaveWomensLives #VAW (Violence Against Women) to bring HIV community messages and demands to the national conversation around this awareness month. You can also use #decolonizeDVAM especially for messages that highlight violence against women as a structural injustice. And of course there is #pwnspeaks – PWN-USA’s overall advocacy hashtag. Let’s get started!   SAMPLE TWEETS No more social tolerance of violence against women with HIV! #EndVAWHIV #DVAM http://wp.me/P38S1J-M5   From intimate partners to social institutions: Stop the brutality against women with HIV! #EndVAWHIV #DVAM http://wp.me/P38S1J-Z   Violence faced by #women living with #HIV is experienced at the individual, community and institutional level. #EndVAWHIV #decolonizeDVAM   Promote IPV screening, #StandUpToStigma, repeal #criminalization laws that make people w/ #HIV a “viral underclass” #EndVAWHIV #DVAM   Intimate partner violence is about power; #HIV status can compound power imbalances. #EndVAWHIV #decolonizeDVAM http://wp.me/P38S1J-Z   Fight laws criminalizing #HIV status that leave women more vulnerable to abuses of power. #EndVAWHIV #decolonizeDVAM http://wp.me/P38S1J-Z   Freedom from violence is a human right! #EndVAWHIV #DVAM http://wp.me/P38S1J-M5   We’re all worthy of a fulfilling life, free of violence. This #DVAM, defend #humanrights and dignity of women w/ HIV! #EndVAWHIV   Violence against #women because of their #HIV status is a hate crime. #EndVAWHIV #DVAM http://wp.me/P38S1J-Z   Law enforcement: Treat #violence against #women due to #HIV status as the hate crime it is. #EndVAWHIV #DVAM http://wp.me/P38S1J-Z   What are the @WhiteHouse and feds doing to #EndVAWHIV this #DVAM? Check out their progress: http://wp.me/p38S1J-MR   Where’s the action at the federal level to end #violence and heal #trauma among #women w/ #HIV? http://wp.me/p38S1J-MR #EndVAWHIV   For women with #HIV, violence is more deadly than the virus. #EndVAWHIV #DVAM http://wp.me/P38S1J-Z   At @WHP_UCSF clinic, 8 of 9 #WLHIV who died in recent yrs were on #HIV meds, died of #trauma’s effects #EndVAWHIV http://wp.me/P38S1J-Z   1/3 of US #women w/ #HIV have #PTSD. This is what veterans live with when returning from war. #EndVAWHIV #DVAM http://wp.me/P38S1J-Z   We must heal #trauma in order to treat #HIV. Self-care can’t be fully realized until self-worth is present. #EndVAWHIV #DVAM http://wp.me/P38S1J-Z   Break the culture of violence against women with HIV and all women! #EndVAWHIV #DVAM http://wp.me/P38S1J-M5   SHORTLINKS TO RESOURCES: “Get Involved”: http://wp.me/P38S1J-M5 Violence Against Women fact sheet: http://wp.me/P38S1J-Z Federal Progress Addressing the Intersections of Violence Against Women, HIV, and Trauma: http://wp.me/p38S1J-MR   SAMPLE FACEBOOK POSTS Violence against women with HIV is part of a larger context where violence against women, especially women of color, has been normalized and accepted. ENOUGH! #EndVAWHIV   No more social tolerance of violence against women with HIV! HIV stigma and criminalization contribute to an environment that devalues the lives of women with HIV. The lives of women with HIV matter! #EndVAWHIV   Criminalization of HIV and attempts to control the sexuality and reproduction of women living with HIV (eg by shaming women with HIV about sexuality or parenthood desires) are forms of structural violence against women with HIV and may lead to increased intimate partner violence. The lives of women with HIV matter! #EndVAWHIV   For women living with HIV, violence is more deadly than the virus. A large study of women with HIV showed that those reporting recent abuse were 42% more likely to die than those who did not report recent trauma. #EndVAWHIV   Violence + HIV can make for a deadly combination. Violence and HIV together can result in health outcomes worse than either condition by itself. Violence & HIV hurt women’s health, women’s bodies, and women’s lives. #EndVAWHIV   We must heal trauma in order to treat HIV. Self-care can’t be fully realized until self-worth is present. Heal the whole woman, mind, body, and spirit. #EndVAWHIV   Freedom from violence is a human right! We are all worthy of living a fulfilling life, one free of violence. Defend the human rights and dignity of women with HIV! #EndVAWHIV   Violence against women because of their HIV status is a hate crime. Law enforcement officials must be made aware of the fact that HIV disclosure can have violent consequences, and these acts of violence must be prosecuted as the hate crimes they are. #EndVAWHIV   There’s a crater in the HIV care continuum for US women between linkage to care (70%) and staying in care (41%). Evidence is growing that healing the effects of trauma is key to filling that gap. Screening for intimate partner violence, and a trauma-informed approach, must become the norm in women’s HIV care to break the cycle of violence, trauma and HIV among women. #EndVAWHIV   Violence can be deadly – as well as the trauma that violence leaves behind. An analysis of studies in transgender and cisgender women showed that those reporting ongoing trauma had four times greater odds of having their HIV treatment stop working. #EndVAWHIV   Even for women who are connected to HIV care and treatment, violence and trauma remain profound barriers to the ability of women living with HIV to lead healthy, fulfilling lives. #EndVAWHIV   Women with HIV who have experienced IPV could fill an entire city. There are roughly 300,000 women living with HIV in the US. More than half have experienced IPV. That’s more than the population of [insert city from below here]

• Kansas City, Kansas
• Paterson, New Jersey
• Waco, Texas
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
• Berkeley, California
• Peoria, Illinois
• New Haven, Connecticut
• Columbia, South Carolina

(Data from census.gov)   Healing the effects of trauma could be the missing piece of the HIV care continuum. Providers for women with HIV must implement trauma-informed care and IPV screening to save and improve women’s lives. #EndVAWHIV   LONGER TALKING POINTS   From intimate partners to social institutions: Stop the brutality against women with HIV! Violence faced by women living with HIV is experienced at the individual, community and institutional level. Promote screening for IPV, fight HIV stigma in all its forms, and repeal HIV criminalization laws that render people living with HIV a vulnerable “viral underclass.” Encourage senators and representatives to support legislation like HR. 1843; S. 1790: The REPEAL (Repeal Existing Policies that Encourage and Allow Legal) HIV Discrimination Act of 2013   Intimate partner violence is about power; HIV status can compound these power imbalances. Oppose violence against women with HIV by fighting laws that criminalize HIV status and leave women even more vulnerable to abuse of power; encourage senators and representatives to support legislation like HR. 1843; S. 1790: The REPEAL (Repeal Existing Policies that Encourage and Allow Legal) HIV Discrimination Act of 2013; and support programs like Common Threads that promote economic justice and healing for women with HIV.   Failure to address trauma is selling MOST women with HIV short on their care. 3 in every 4 US women living with HIV report a history of gender-based violence (compared with 1 in 4 women in the general population). Healing the effects of trauma is the missing piece of the HIV care continuum that could help women with HIV stay connected to care and radically improve the quality of their lives. Screening for intimate partner violence, and a trauma-informed approach, must become the norm in women’s HIV care to break the cycle of violence, trauma and HIV among women.   SOCIAL MEDIA IMAGES (More coming soon!)