This is Part 3 of the five-part statement “Five Things Media Makers Can Do NOW to Stand Up to HIV Stigma.” Read the full statement as a single article
- HIV is not just a man’s issue; it never has been. Talk to women living with HIV.
We, women living with HIV, articulate truth that must not be distilled. While living with HIV, we work, raise families, cook, help aging parents, bear children, march, protest injustices, lead the way at conferences, fall in love, and empower each other.
Women account for at least a quarter of people living with HIV in the US, and more than half of all people with HIV worldwide. This makes us the overwhelming experts. We stand bold, as in front-page news. We are not the stuff of margins.
African-American women were 64% of all women diagnosed with HIV at last count, in 2010. A third of transgender women in the US are living with HIV; the majority of transgender women diagnosed with HIV are women of color. If you are not engaged in conversations about HIV with women of color, you are really missing the point. You may be missing the whole truth, the undisputed truth, the unadulterated story of HIV in the US.
Resources for finding women’s stories:
- Positive Women’s Network – USA (PWN-USA) – Features a wide variety of advocacy resources for women with HIV, including opinion pieces and statements highlighting the perspectives and expertise of women advocates living with HIV.
- International Community of Women Living with HIV (ICW) – The only global network by and for women with HIV; features stories of women living with HIV around the world.
- The Well Project – Features cutting-edge information, personal reflections, and research by and for women with HIV.
- TheBody.com’s Women’s Resource Center – Features first-person stories and videos by women living with HIV, as well as basic information about women and HIV.
Like what you’ve read? Share this statement on Twitter, Facebook, and beyond using the hashtag #StandUptoHIVStigma!
