National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Week of Advocacy

National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NWGHAAD) is an annual, nationwide observance that sheds light on the impact of HIV/AIDS on women and girls. Every year on March 10, and throughout the month of March, federal, national, and community organizations come together to offer support and hope, reduce stigma, share information, and empower women and girls to learn the importance of HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment.

Today, about one in four people living with HIV in the United States are women 13 or older. Globally women make up 52% of people living with HIV. Only about half of women living with HIV are getting care, and only four in 10 of them have the virus under control. Women face unique HIV risks and challenges that can prevent them from getting needed care and treatment. Addressing these issues remains critical to achieving an HIV/AIDS-free generation.

While there are many milestones in HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment, it is important to recognize that the disease affects women all across the country. Some women are living with HIV while working and taking care of families. Other women are caregivers to family members or friends with HIV/AIDS. During National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, we invite everyone to help reduce stigma.

To honor National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, SisterLove is hosting a Week of Action:

Week of March 9-12: RJ Advocacy Training Video hosted by Sequoia Ayala (link will be sent during this week)

March 9th: Intersections at the Grassroots: HIV is a Reproductive Justice Issue

March 10th: "Art it Out!” from 4pm-7pm hosted by the Fulton County Board of Health

March 10th: Advocacy Twitter Chat from 12pm-2pm

March 11th: National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Advocacy Day hosted by SisterLove from 8:30am- 4:00pm

RSVP Here: https://www.sisterlove.org/events/national-women-and-girls-hiv-aids-week-of-action-hosted-by-sisterlove

SisterLove Wants to Hear Your Housing Story

Housing Opportunities for People Living With AIDS (HOPWA) is the only program specifically designed for those who are living with HIV. HOPWA's funding however will be slowly decreased over the next few years. There have been some plans to ensure that those that rely on HOPWA will still have stable housing after these cuts. We hope that these plans are effective, but we want to reach out to our community to see whether you have had difficulty dealing with HOPWA or other public housing assistance. We would love if you could tell us your stories so we can be more effective advocates. We also are planning to write a brief about the housing issues in Georgia and would love to include your stories!

If you would like to share your stories please click here

If you would rather tell your story in person, please reach out to Jacqueline Tosto at [email protected] and you can set up a time to speak.

*We understand the sensitive nature of these experiences and the courage it takes to speak out. Any submission you give to us will be confidential unless you give us permission to share your story. Someone from SisterLove, Inc. will follow-up with you after you submit your response. For any questions please contact Jacqueline Tosto, [email protected].

SisterLove's GAMA Team is Conducting a Medication Abortion Study!

SisterLove's Health Education and Prevention Team Events

Upcoming Events

Proclamation Presentation in Commemoration of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

The Atlanta City Council is having a Proclamation Ceremony Commemorating the 21st Observance of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day hosted by Councilman Michael Julian Bond. The event is on Thursday, February 6, 2020, 8:30 a.m. at Atlanta City Hall, City Council Chambers at 55 Trinity Avenue, S.W. | Second Floor | Atlanta, GA 30303. Reception begins at 8:00 a.m on the 2nd Floor Atrium Adjacent to Council Chambers. R.S.V.P. to: [email protected] or 404-330-677

Partner Updates

Positive Women's Network Fellowship Applications are Open

Positive Women’s Network – USA (PWN) is proud to launch applications for the fourth year of their PWN Policy Fellowship, a year-long program designed to prepare and support women and trans and gender nonconforming (TGNC) people to engage effectively in federal, state and local policy and advocacy.

The flagship PWN Policy Fellowship focuses on training women and TGNC people living with HIV overcome barriers that have traditionally kept us from influencing federal, state, and local policy. The fellowship curriculum is rooted in social justice and applies an explicit gender justice and racial justice lens to all aspects of policy advocacy. Best of all, you do not need to be an expert or seasoned advocate to be a PWN Policy Fellow--you just need to demonstrate genuine interest in advocacy and be ready to learn and work!

The current political environment is marred by ongoing and escalating threats to sexual and reproductive rights, basic health care, bodily autonomy, the social safety net, and civil and political rights. PWN Policy Fellows learn to effectively react to those threats, but we don’t stop with defensive campaigns. Participants also learn to advocate for transformative social and political change that aims to dismantle the oppressive systems that harm our communities.

Check out the application here. All applications are due by February 17.

In the News

National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

February 7 is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. The 2020 theme is “We’re in This, Together.” This observance is an opportunity to increase HIV education, testing, community involvement, and treatment among black communities.

At SisterLove, our mission is to eradicate the impact of HIV on women and girls of African decent. On National Black HIV/AIDS Day we want to highlight the effects HIV has had on the Black community, increase awareness and advocate for greater access to biomedical prevention and treatment care, and amplify policies that address inequities and remove barriers so that our communities can thrive.

Woodhull Wins FOSTA Appeal

Woodhull Freedom Foundation is a nonprofit organization and is the only national human rights organization working full time toward affirming and protecting the fundamental human right to sexual freedom. Woodhull recently brought forward a case against the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA).

FOSTA contains a number of speech-restricting provisions, but most significantly, it:

Created new federal criminal and civil liability for anyone who “owns, manages, or operates an interactive computer service” and speaks, or hosts third-party content, with the intent to “promote or facilitate the prostitution of another person.”
Expanded criminal and civil liability to treat any online speaker or platform that allegedly assists, supports, or facilitates sex trafficking as though they are participating “in a venture” with individuals directly engaged in sex trafficking.
Carved out significant exceptions to the immunity provisions of 47 U.S.C. § 230 to create new criminal and civil liability for online platforms based on whether the content and viewpoints expressed by their users’ speech might be seen as promoting or facilitating prostitution, or as assisting, supporting or facilitating sex trafficking.

These provisions violate both the first and fifth amendment.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals revived Woodhull‘s challenge to FOSTA. The court ordered that the constitutional challenge be sent back to the district court for a ruling on the merits and therefore Woodfull still has a chance to win. To read more click here.

Continuing Disability Review

SisterLove submitted a comment regarding the Social Security Administrations 's proposal to increase the number of continuing disability reviews. By increasing the number of mandatory reviews for those who have been approved for Social Security disability, it will drastically increase denials of Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits, with a disproportionate impact on those most vulnerable – persons removed not because their impairments have improved, but rather because their impairments make it difficult for them to understand and comply with the CDR process. The rule will cause seriously ill individuals to lose desperately needed benefits, the vast majority of whom will not be able to replace the income from SSDI or SSI with earnings. SisterLove noted in their comment their particular concern with those living with HIV and receive some form for Social Security. We hope that the Social Security Administration will reconsider this action. We will keep you updated as events unfold regarding this measure. To read our comment click here

Upcoming SisterLove Events