Canada: Protesters in Ontario call for an end to the criminalization and stigmatization of people living with HIV

Protesting the Criminalization of HIV

Lives are being destroyed because the laws have not caught up to science.

A couple dozen demonstrators gathered outside the office of the Ministry of the Attorney General on Wednesday to protest the continued criminalization of HIV-positive people in Ontario.

Protesters are demanding an end to the stigmatization of positive status, as well as the ongoing inaction on the part of all levels of government to develop prosecutorial guidelines for legal cases involving HIV-positive people, who are legally required to disclose their status to all partners regardless of the actual risk of transmission.

While there are no official laws criminalizing those with HIV, the precedent of using existing offences—aggravated sexual assault, for instance—against those who fail to inform their partner of their HIV-positive status effectively criminalizes those who have the disease. This is despite the fact that there is growing scientific consensus [PDF] that those who are positive but have a low viral load pose little to no risk of infecting their partner, especially if safety measures (like condoms) are used.

The criminalization of HIV status is part of a larger structure of marginalization, activists say. “This is an intersectional issue, which involves race and class,” says Jonathan Valelly of Queers Crash the Beat. “We know that the people being most affected by this are immigrant men and men of colour. We know that gay men are being targeted, and we know that poor people are being targeted.”

The issue of HIV criminalization, and the stigma of being HIV-positive, came up recently when a Toronto police officer threatened a citizen peacefully filming an arrest. The officer claimed that the man being arrested was “going to spit in your face; you’re going to get AIDS.” This is, of course, patently false—but it reflects the immense stigma that HIV-positive individuals face.

The crowd heard statements read aloud from individuals who were affected by HIV criminalization. One man was incarcerated for not disclosing his status, despite having a low viral load and using a condom. They also heard a statement from Michelle Whonnock, a sex worker from Vancouver who was was jailed for nearly two and a half years for not disclosing her positive status to a client. Her statement described how working as a sex worker was a necessity for her to get by, how she was portrayed in the media as an “HIV infected prostitute,” and how she remains on a sex offender registry—all because she has a disease.

In 2010, then-Attorney General Chris Bentley agreed to develop prosecutorial guidelines that would help protect HIV-positive individuals, but such guidelines simply never materialized. “We have now a growing consensus in the scientific community internationally that if you are a person living with HIV with a low viral load, it’s very difficult for you to transmit HIV,” says Eric Mykhalovskiy, who works with the Ontario Working Group on Criminal Law and HIV Exposure.

“That science has not being taken into account in the approach to criminal prosecutions that the ministry takes. Nor has efforts to ensure that people who are following public health advice, who are using condoms, who don’t present a risk, aren’t prosecuted.”

Published in the Torontoist on February 22, 2017

Canada: Canadian Coalition to Reform HIV Criminalization hopeful after meeting with federal justice officials but some provinces remain reluctant

Momentum building for HIV law reform

Coalition emerges from meeting with senior federal justice officials last week feeling hopeful, but provinces remain reluctant to commit to moratorium on new charges involving non-disclosure of HIV status

BY

Chad Clarke says his nightmare and rebirth – he uses the two interchangeably to describe his experience with HIV laws and the justice system – made him stronger.

It started on February 12, 2009, when he turned himself in on an aggravated sexual assault charge brought by his former common-law partner. A judge found Clarke failed to disclose his HIV status, but Clarke says he didn’t know he was HIV+ at the time.

He didn’t see the light until he walked out of prison more than two years later in June 2011, but his resurrection as an HIV activist could not have happened without the experience of prison, which led to his resolve to fight so no one would have go through what he did.

Clarke found himself face to face with high-level officials in the federal justice ministry last week, telling his story and reading the testimonials of others who say they have been unfairly treated by the Canadian justice system because of their HIV status. Clarke is part of the Canadian Coalition to Reform HIV Criminalization, a group of researchers, lawyers, service providers and people living with HIV who’ve come together to capitalize on recent momentum around getting HIV-related laws changed.

Finally, Minister of Justice Jody Wilson-Raybould seems to be listening to the latest science about HIV transmission: it’s a manageable condition for the vast majority of people living with HIV who take antiretroviral medicines. According to the latest research, a person living with HIV with a suppressed viral load for at least six months cannot pass on the virus.

It’s a major reason why advocates are calling for an overhaul of the law. On World AIDS Day (December 1, 2016), the justice minister released a statement acknowledging that “the over-criminalization of HIV non-disclosure discourages many individuals from being tested and seeking treatment, and further stigmatizes those living with HIV or AIDS.”

Clarke feels vindicated after years of feeling alone. Over the phone from his home in Dresden, Ontario, following the meeting, he says, “I’m here to open people’s eyes and let them know what happens to people when they’re criminally charged.”

Behind bars, he told justice ministry officials, people living with HIV are branded dangerous to guards and other inmates. Once he was removed from his prison laundry job after a guard was concerned that he would “give AIDS” to other inmates by handling their clothes. “I just looked at the guard,” Clarke says.

HIV cannot be transmitted through clothes, saliva, touch or a toilet seat. HIV transmission requires an exchange of blood, semen, pre-seminal, rectal or vaginal fluids, or breast milk. It is most commonly transmitted through unprotected sex or sharing of injection drug equipment.

Though the federal government has begun to engage communities on how it might change prosecutorial guidelines to reflect up-to-date science and human rights principles around HIV, some provinces – particularly Ontario, where the bulk of prosecutions occur – continue to ignore further attempts at dialogue.

Police and Crown attorneys here have aggressively pursued aggravated sexual assault charges against people even when they don’t transmit the virus, says Ryan Peck, executive director of the HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario (HALCO). The group has been calling for a moratorium on prosecutions in the province except in cases of intentional transmission.

“This is a very reasonable approach, and a number of communities are speaking up about the current over-broad use of the criminal law,” Peck says, citing a recent consensus statement from 70 leading HIV researchers and academics.

Emilie Smith, a spokesperson for Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney General, responding via email to NOW’s request for comment, says that the Ontario government “is committed to working with the federal government to examine the law on this important issue.”

But she says that Crown prosecutors will continue to take direction on current HIV non-disclosure cases from the 2012 Supreme Court of Canada ruling on R. v. Mabior. Critics say the ruling outlines too low a threshold for conviction. The ministry, she says, has no further comment on the request for a moratorium until the federal government and provinces can agree on prosecutorial guidelines on the issue.

Clarke continues to push forward, telling his story and calling for greater justice for those still caught up in the system.

“There are other people out there who are experiencing this right now,” says Clarke. “It choked me up at one point when I was reading one of the testimonies, because this is not right. It’s not right.

“I can live with my HIV. It’s the PTSD that I don’t like,” says Clarke, who recently went on medication “to be able to sleep through the night, not have nightmares about people dying or stabbing one another in jail.”

Clarke, who used to be an X-ray technician, must also live the rest of his life as a registered sex offender, which affects his ability to find work. “I can’t even volunteer at an old folks home. They’re going to do a vulnerable sector screening check, and my name is going to come up on the registry.”

Published in Now on February 19th, 2017

Canada: Rally against HIV criminalisation planned in Toronto for February 22 at noon

HIV is NOT A Crime! – Action against HIV criminalization

Wednesday Feb 22 12:00pm-1:30pm in Toronto
AIDS Action Now! and Queers Crash the Beat invite you to tell the Attorney General that HIV IS NOT A CRIME!

Gather for a rally this Wednesday, February 22 @ 12 noon

Ministry of the Attorney General, 720 Bay St

Ontario continues to lead Canadian provinces in charges against people living with HIV for not disclosing their status, even when they have taken precautions to protect their partners, when there no risk of transmission, and when no transmission has taken place. People are being prosecuted for aggravated sexual assault, one of the most serious charges under the Criminal Code. Conviction carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and a mandatory designation as a sex offender for a minimum of 20 years.

Analysis of prosecutions shows a disproportionate number of charges against racialized people and a growing number against gay men. There is also deep concern that women with HIV who are in abusive relationships will face aggravated sexual assault charges in situations where they cannot safely impose condom use nor disclose their HIV status.

The current approach of the criminal law towards “risk” is completely out of line with current HIV science. It is clear, for example, that people living with HIV who have an undetectable viral load do not transmit HIV to their partners. Over 70 leading scientists working in the field of HIV expressed serious concern with the law in their Canadian consensus statement on HIV and its transmission in the context of criminal law (http://www.aidslaw.ca/site/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Canadian-statement1.pdf)

The federal government has also expressed concern. In a December 2016 statement (http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=1163979), the Minister of Justice stated that,

“… the over-criminalization of HIV non-disclosure discourages many individuals from being tested and seeking treatment, and further stigmatizes those living with HIV or AIDS. Just as treatment has progressed, the criminal justice system must adapt to better reflect the current scientific evidence on the realities of this disease.”

As pressure increases at the federal level, we must pressure the provincial government! They are responsible for carrying out these laws, to act immediately to stop the overreaching and violent criminalization of HIV.

We echo calls from the Ontario Working Group on Criminal Law and HIV Exposure and demand that Attorney General Naqvi immediately takes the following actions:

1. Impose an immediate moratorium on all HIV non-disclosure prosecutions, unless there is alleged intentional transmission of HIV, while law reform options are being explored and sound prosecutorial guidelines are being developed – in conjunction with the community – to limit the current misuse and overextension of the criminal law.

2. Publicly state that the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General is committed to ending the overly broad application of the criminal law in cases of alleged HIV non-disclosure and to reviewing Ontario’s approach to these prosecutions.

3. Engage in meaningful dialogue with the Ontario Working Group on Criminal Law and HIV Exposure (CLHE) as well as people living with HIV and scientific experts when developing prosecutorial guidelines and other responses to this issue.

For many years, community members have highlighted the injustices taking place and conveyed the unacceptable reality that such prosecutions are having a disproportionate impact on the most marginalized and vulnerable of persons living with HIV. It is time for Ontario to show true leadership. Unjust and harmful prosecutions must end NOW.

US: Naomi Wilding, Elizabeth Taylor's granddaughter, on why the proposed bill to reform HIV criminalisation laws in California is such an important step in the fight against HIV

It is widely unknown amongst the general population in the U.S. that we currently have antiquated and discriminatory laws that criminalize people living with HIV.

Two thirds of U.S. states, territories, and possessions have HIV-specific criminal statutes used to prosecute people with HIV. Most Americans would be shocked to learn that the only country that has prosecuted more people based on HIV status than the U.S. is Russia.

Repealing these laws would have been a priority for my grandmother, and I feel it is more important than ever to shine a light on these issues, especially given the new political climate we’ve entered.

Published in the Hill on February 16, 2017

Legislation criminalizing HIV began in the early 1980s when contracting the disease was thought of as “a death sentence.”

Three decades later, this is no longer the case. Current HIV medication, when taken regularly, reduces viral load (the amount of HIV in your blood) making it almost impossible to transmit the virus.

We also now have medications that can prevent HIV transmission — a daily pill called PrEP that some people have compared to the birth control pill, but for HIV prevention. Yet, the laws have not caught up with medical advances.

Most of the laws are about disclosure and make it illegal for a person with HIV to engage in sexual contact without first disclosing their status. It doesn’t matter if the person has an undetectable viral load and/ or uses a condom and no HIV transmission occurred. In some places spitting or exposure to saliva can be prosecuted as a felony, even though we’ve long known that HIV can’t be transmitted through saliva.

My advocacy work with The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation and our grantee partner, SERO Project (a network of people with HIV and allies fighting for freedom from stigma and injustice), has introduced me to some heartbreaking stories of people whose lives are ruined by these unjust laws: Kerry Thomas, a grandfather in Idaho, is serving 30 years in prison for consensual sex where both parties agreed that he always insisted on using condoms.

His medical records show he had an undetectable viral load and the virus was not passed, yet Kerry was convicted anyway. And Willie Campbell, who is serving 35 years in a prison in Texas for spitting, after the court classified the homeless man’s saliva as a “deadly weapon”.

These cases are not just happening in ‘red states.’ The state of California has arrested and charged more than 800 people under HIV criminalization statutes between 1988 and 2014.

This is a human rights issue. Lack of education and misinformation are being used as weapons of blatant discrimination. In fact, most of the laws are very vague, leaving too much to interpretation and potential discrimination.

According to the CDC, as of 2015, 92 percent of new infections occur from people who do not know their status or are not on treatment. If laws criminalizing HIV and stigma were gone, people would feel more at ease to disclose their status, whether at work, or in an intimate or sexual relationship, ultimately resulting in more people getting tested, knowing their status and directly reducing the spread of new HIV infections.

Laws that criminalize HIV increase stigma and discrimination. They hinge on the disclosure requirement, which frequently comes down to “he said-she said”, with the HIV-positive person more often than not perceived as a villain, and facing an assumption of guilt when in a courtroom.

Using updated scientific facts to educate the public can work. In Colorado, the state legislature recently voted to pass Senate Bill 146, repealing two HIV criminalization statutes and reforming others. “Most people really knew very little about this topic. Yet when presented with evidence, they quickly agreed these laws are anachronistic and are no longer based on current science and medicine,” Colorado Senator Pat Steadman said of the success local advocates had in changing the outdated legislature.

Now in California there is an opportunity to pass legislation that is inclusive, updated, and reflective of the advances we make in society.

Last week, California Senator Scott Weiner and Assembly members Todd Gloria and David Chiu introduced Senate Bill 239, a bill that will modernize laws that criminalize and stigmatize people living with HIV.

Passage of reforms like Senate Bill 239 are necessary next steps in the fight against HIV in the U.S. and around the world. We know that marginalized communities face huge disparities with HIV and AIDS rates, and specific HIV criminalization laws only exacerbate this fact.

Most people faced with HIV criminalization charges in California include people of color, cis and transgender women, and LGBTQ youth.

Thankfully we also have organizations like Equality California, the ACLU, Positive Women’s Network, and others who support medically and scientifically accurate information pertaining to HIV, and continue to work with members of the Californians for HIV Criminalization Reform (CHCR) coalition to ensure justice and empathy for people living with HIV. One thing we should all know: HIV is not a crime.

My grandmother’s work as an activist and advocate is inspiring. She had such visibility and used it so brilliantly to help raise awareness and ease the suffering of those with HIV. And while we don’t all have that same kind of visibility, if we all work to speak out about intolerance, and we do what we can to raise awareness, then we become a movement, and that’s what becomes a force for change.

Naomi Wilding is granddaughter of the legendary actress and humanitarian, Elizabeth Taylor. She is now an ambassador of The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation and has pledged to do what she can to help those living with HIV and AIDS, and in creating an AIDS-free generation.

Canada: Community organisations in Ontario call for an immediate moratorium on all prosecutions and sound prosecutorial guidelines

Stop the witch-hunt of HIV criminalization

People living with HIV are being charged with some of the most serious offences in our criminal law, even in situations where there has been no transmission of HIV, no realistic possibility of transmission, and no intent to transmit.

Witch-hunts aren’t always sudden social paroxysms. They can be pursued slowly and with a veneer of legality — a steady erosion of rights and decency tapping into, and reinforcing deep-rooted fear, stigma and prejudice. Their harm isn’t limited solely to the injustices meted out to those directly targeted; they cast a broader shadow over entire communities.

It’s what’s happening here, courtesy of the provincial Ministry of the Attorney General that has so far refused to recognize both science and human rights when it comes to prosecutions for alleged nondisclosure of HIV.

People living with HIV are being charged with some of the most serious offences in our criminal law (such as “aggravated sexual assault”), even in situations where there has been no transmission of HIV, no realistic possibility of transmission, and no intent to transmit.

Simply put, they are being criminalized for having HIV, caught up in a justice system, from policing to prosecution to prison, that too often disregards evidence and the public interest.

(After the recent incident involving a Toronto police officer talking nonsense about how “AIDS” can be transmitted, it’s clear there is much work to be done on the policing front, too. Scientific consensus is that there is zero risk of HIV transmission through spit and a vanishingly minuscule possibility of transmission through a bite. At least scientifically speaking, we’re not in 1984.)

For many years, a group of committed people living with HIV, lawyers, academics and other advocates has called on the attorney general to put an end to this overly broad use of the criminal law.

In particular, this coalition has urged the adoption of sound guidelines for prosecutors to appropriately limit the use of criminal charges. Repeatedly, it has denounced problematic prosecutions that continue in Ontario — prosecutions accompanied by media coverage that, according to a recent study, disproportionately features black and/or immigrant men and often reflects racist stereotypes. Repeatedly, the coalition has suggested remedies for this ongoing injustice, drawing on a province-wide consultation.

But successive attorneys general have been unable or unwilling to rein in overzealous prosecutors, and have failed to develop prosecutorial guidance in line with science and numerous international recommendations.

As it stands, a so-called “HIV experts group” of crown prosecutors within the ministry now runs this horrible show in Ontario, leading the charge against people living with HIV. From the outside, we don’t know the group’s composition or how they make their decisions to pursue a particular prosecution.

Community organizations have requested a meeting. So, too, have scientific experts — who have pointed out that a correctly used latex condom is 100 per cent effective in blocking passage of HIV, as well as the science now establishing that someone with an undetectable viral load (including as a result of effective treatment with anti-HIV drugs) is effectively non-infectious. Yet this group of “HIV expert” prosecutors has not responded.

However, recent reports in the Star revealed an infamous guide for prosecuting cases of HIV nondisclosure, developed by Hamilton crown attorney Karen Shea — who has played an active role in advancing such cases around the province — for use by other prosecutors. (The government was ordered to release this document after years of wrangling in court.)

A Ministry spokesperson admitted the guide takes a “prosecution at all costs” approach and “doesn’t take into consideration the kinds of situations in which a more lenient approach might be justified.”

It is therefore no surprise that we continue to see the misuse of charges of aggravated sexual assault, a criminal offence usually reserved for the most violent rapes, even in cases of consensual sex where there was negligible or no risk of HIV transmission, no actual transmission and no intent to transmit.

Such prosecutions damage individual lives and public health. As stated last month by Canada’s federal justice minister, “… the over-criminalization of HIV nondisclosure discourages many individuals from being tested and seeking treatment, and further stigmatizes those living with HIV or AIDS.”

Enough is enough. Attorney General Yasir Naqvi — and Premier Wynne herself, who expressed her concern to us in-person three years ago — must stop this witch-hunt. More than 500 letters of concern have, as of this week, been sent to both by outraged community members.

We need an immediate moratorium on all prosecutions (except in those very rare cases of intentional transmission), and we need sound prosecutorial guidelines that respect science and human rights.

Richard Elliott is the executive director of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, a member of the Ontario Working Group on Criminal Law and HIV Exposure. Stephen Lewis is board chair of the Stephen Lewis Foundation and co-director of AIDS-Free World, an international advocacy organization.

Published in The Star on February 8, 2017

US: Please help raise $20,000 to support Michael Johnson's appeal.

Justice for Michael L. Johnson

Michael L. Johnson now sits in prison under a law that hurts many and helps no one. With your help, he could be free in a matter of months.

Everyone ought to have the right to a fair trial. A toxic mix of racial bias, homophobia and income inequality made that impossible for Michael L. Johnson. With your help, he may have another chance at justice.

In the fall of 2013, Michael Johnson was living his dream. He was a student-athlete at Lindenwood University where he was a respected collegiate wrestler. He aspired to one day compete in the Olympics. But Michael’s dreams were shattered in October 2013, when he was arrested for being a sexually active black gay man living with HIV. In May 2015, under the unfair and unjust HIV criminalization laws in the state of Missouri, Michael was found guilty and sentenced to 30 ½ years.

Remarkably, in December 2016, the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, reversed his conviction based on the prosecution’s failure to turn over important evidence in a timely fashion. But Michael is not out of the woods yet. In order for Michael to have a chance to get his life back, he needs the best legal counsel available at the new trial that will take place sometime soon. This is where your help Is needed.

Michael urgently needs an attorney that can defend him and give him a shot at true justice. In order to give Michael that chance, we need to raise $20,000 in 20 days. This money will be used to hire a private attorney that has the experience, background, and passion to help Michael fight the HIV criminalization laws in Missouri.

A new trial date has not yet been set – but time is of the essence! Michael needs experienced counsel immediately.

Any amount of money will help – if we all pull together, we can reach this goal and give Michael Johnson a new lease on life. Please share his story and help support his quest for freedom.

———————————————————————————————————

We are advocates, organizers, and community members committed to working toward the freedom of Michael L. Johnson, a young black gay student, respected college athlete, and aspiring olympic wrestler before he was arrested under Missouri’s unjust HIV criminalization law.

Philippines: Under Philippine law, non-disclosure of HIV could be ground for annulment of marriage but not criminal liability, says Legal Advocacy Center's Director

Concealing HIV-Aids ground for annulment

The concealment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV-Aids) status could be a ground for annulment of marriage although no criminal liability will be imposed, a lawyer said. Ateneo Public Interest and Legal Advocacy Center (Apila) director Romeo Cabarde Jr. said on Friday, February 3, during the Consultation and Harmonization Meeting with Partners at Brokenshire Hospital, Davao City, that under the Republic Act 8504 (Philippine Aids Prevention and Control Act of 1998) that no legal cases will be charged if an infected person opted to hide his or her status.

But, under Section 34 that “any person with HIV is obliged to disclose his or her HIV status and health condition to his or her spouse or sexual partner at the earliest opportune time.” He made the statement after one participant raised a question during the open forum whether not revealing intentionally to his or her spouse that he or she has HIV-Aids could have legal consequences considering the serious implication, known to have no cure yet, when transmitted through sexual intercourse. The lawyer said that according to the Family Code of the Philippines, a marriage may be annulled if the consent of either party was obtained by fraud. Under Article 46, that any of the following circumstances shall constitute fraud referred concealment of sexually transmissible disease, regardless of its nature, existing at the time of the marriage. Thus, Cabarde urged health advocates during the event to be cautious and keep the confidentiality of individuals who are positive with the disease and provide the full protection of his or her human rights and civil liberties in accordance with the law. If someone disclosed their patient’s status without permission, they could face charges and penalties for breaching the medical confidentiality of the person infected with HIV-Aids. Instead of leading the person’s admission, he said that the health advocates should instead encourage those infected to divulge their status themselves. “As an advocate, that’s the best thing we can do hindi natin pangunahan na i-reveal (spearhead the revelation) without their consent because we will have a criminal liability,” Cabarde said. Cabarde added the agency will strengthen their awareness campaign and counselling once the infected person announce that he or she is ready to disclose and further assist their partners on how they would deal with the revelation.

Published in SunStar on February 4th, 2017

European AIDS Treatment Group interviews Edwin J Bernard of the HIV Justice Network about their work so far, and what lays ahead.

Canada: Prosecuting HIV: Is it a crime to have sex without disclosing? Public Roundtable in Toronto – Ontario on Feb 3, 2017

Public Roundtable on February 3, 2017 – Prosecuting HIV: Is it a crime to have sex without disclosing?

Posted on January 30, 2017

Prosecuting HIV: Is it a crime to have sex without disclosing? public roundtable discussion will take place:

Friday February 3rd, 2017, from 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm

Canadiana Gallery – Room 160, 14 Queen’s Park Crescent West, Toronto, Ontario

The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that when HIV+ people do not disclose their status to sex partners they are committing a serious crime (often, aggravated sexual assault) if there is a realistic possibility of HIV transmission. Many HIV+ people have been prosecuted and jailed even if their sex partners did not contract HIV. Efforts are now underway to use prosecutorial guidelines and other tools to make Canada’s criminal law less punitive towards HIV+ people, and updated information on these efforts will be presented at the panel.

Roundtable Panelists will include:

  • Maureen Owino, Director, Committee for Accessible AIDS Treatment
  • Ryan Peck, Executive Director, HIV&AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario (HALCO)
  • Amy Swiffen, Sociology Department, Concordia University, and Visiting Professor at the Centre for Criminology & Sociolegal Studies
  • Chris Tatham, Sociology Department, University of Toronto

The Panel Moderator is Audrey Macklin, Director, Centre for Criminology & Sociolegal Studies.

All are welcome to attend.

The event poster is available as a pdf on our website: http://www.halco.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/HIV-disclosure-public-roundtable-2017Feb3.pdf.

 

US: Positive Women's Network USA – January 2017 Newsletter

2017: Ready for the Fight of Our Lives
The first steps toward repeal of the Affordable Care Act have already been taken by the new Republican-led Congress. A bill that would effectively ban all abortions has already been introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Steve King (R-IA). Confirmation hearings are underway for Sen. Jefferson Sessions (R-AL)–a far-right legislator with a very poor record on women’s rights and civil rights, including voting rights, as well as a documented history of making racist remarks–for Attorney General, and for Rep. Tom Price (R-GA)–another far-right legislator who has a record of opposing health care reforms that benefit low-income people and of opposing women’s health care rights and access, as well as conflicts of interest in the same area–for Secretary of Health and Human Services.

 
And all of this is happening even before the inauguration of a president who ran a campaign of open misogyny, racism, xenophobia and intolerance. 
 
At PWN-USA, we know that the road ahead is long and fraught with challenges. The threats to the health, life and liberty of many of us–as well as to the fabric of our democracy–are real and are unfolding around us in real time. But we also know that our community is strong, resilient and accustomed to resistance in the face of oppression. We started 2017 with a game plan–one that is incomplete and evolving day by day, but which has some specific commitments and initiatives to strengthen our community and the effectiveness of our fight against these attacks.
  • This Tuesday, we launched our new weekly PWN Action Alerts to help our members and allies stay up to date on the latest critical developments and take action quickly and easily in different ways, whether by phone, email, social media or in person.
  • We are excited to announce our brand new PWN Policy Fellows Program, an innovative fellowship that will help women living with HIV become even fiercer leaders and advocates on the issues that matter most to us.
  • An anti-racism affinity group that came together at the 2016 Speak Up! Summit is developing an anti-racism curriculum, with a webinar series and discussion groups meeting monthly, to help white members and non-Black people of color more effectively get involved in the fight for racial justice in the Trump era. The first webinar was held Tuesday evening; more will be announced soon.
  • We will be holding three new series of webinars–in strategic communications, policy and regional organizing–to help PWN members hone their skills in fighting for justice, liberty and bodily autonomy.

Still more is coming soon. Stay tuned–and stay vigilant! We will be doing our best to keep you up-to-date and help you take action. We hope we can count on your support and your voice throughout the days, weeks and months to come. Our victory depends on all of us.

Become a PWN-USA Policy Fellow!

Positive Women’s Network – USA is proud to launch applications for our inaugural Policy Fellowship for Women Living with HIV (WLHIV). The yearlong Policy Fellowship will prepare and involve WLHIV in all levels of policy and decision-making by increasing participants’ ability to engage effectively in the federal policy and advocacy arena. In the current political environment marred by threats to sexual and reproductive rights, basic health care access, the social safety net, and civil and human rights, it is critical that WLHIV are equipped with a wide array of tools to support vibrant, visionary and strategic advocacy on behalf of their communities.

This one-year fellowship is open to all women living with HIV, including women of trans experience. We especially encourage young women, women of color, immigrant women, folks who are trans, LGB and gender non-conforming, who live in the South and who possess a strong desire to effect meaningful change in the lives of other WLHIV to apply.

The fellowship curriculum will be rooted within a social justice framework and will apply an explicit gender justice and racial justice lens to the policy and advocacy process as a vehicle for transformative social and political change. Fellows will receive coaching and mentoring to support their policy advocacy goals, opportunities to attend policy meetings (in person and via conference call), opportunities to engage with national advocacy coalitions, and access to policy experts. Additionally, fellows will have the opportunity to obtain and apply marketable writing, research and organizing skills to support their professional development. Fellows who graduate successfully will receive a certificate at the end of the program and their registration fees for the 2018 SPEAK UP! Summit will be waived.

 
We will be holding an informational webinar about the application process on Friday, Jan. 27, at 3 PM EST/12 PM PST–register here!
Staying Positive:

Women Living with HIV Speak Out Against Stigma
On World AIDS Day 2016, women living with HIV in Colorado publicly shared short videos they created in partnership with the StoryCenter. PWN-USA is proud and pleased to roll out these incredibly powerful and moving videos in 2017 as we fight stigma and highlight the resilience and fierceness of women living with HIV in the U.S.

We will be sharing one to three of these videos in each of our biweekly e-newsletters! Today, enjoy Barb’s story,You Don’t Know Me.

 
“I gave my power away. I let others determine what was pretty, what was worth complimenting…I gave my power away with both hands to people who didn’t even really want it, to people who didn’t have my best interests at heart. In my search to fit in, I allowed. I allowed it all. Why do we give our power away, when we can be so powerful?”
From PWN-USA Colorado co-chairs Kari Hartel and Barb Cardell: 
Last spring, the StoryCenter began to search the community in the Denver Metro-Area for partners to create some short videos of people living with HIV. PWN-USA Colorado co-chair Kari Hartel was able to attend an informational meeting and asked that a workshop be dedicated to women living with HIV. A month later, the Empowerment Program, a local agency that has been serving women, mostly those who are low-income and highly marginalized, joined in the collaboration; the Staying Positive project was born. Staff from Empowerment’s Women’s AIDS Project and PWN-USA Colorado leaders began working with women living with HIV to identify those who wanted to participate in the StoryCenter workshop. There was so much excitement about the project that two workshops were created, one in May and one in July.
 
18 women living with HIV were able to participate and the Staying Positive project took flight.

These workshops were transformational for many members. The process for each woman to create her own video from start to finish was very intensive and the bonds that were formed during the workshops will likely continue for a lifetime. We are so thankful to the StoryCenter for their amazing work in giving people a driver’s seat and a platform to tell their own stories.”

PWN-USA at Creating Change!

PWN staff members Waheedah Shabazz-El and Cammie Dodson will be presenting at the Creating Change Conference at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown in Philadelphia, PA, on Friday, January 19th. The workshop will provide an overview of HIV criminalization throughout the country and its impact on people living with HIV, especially women and LGBTQ people of color. The session will focus on the intersection between criminalization and violence against women living with HIV, and will highlight local and national efforts to repeal, reform, and abolish HIV criminal laws. Participants will have the opportunity to develop strategies to strengthen advocacy efforts in their home states and lift the work of grassroots organizations in their communities. We hope to see you there!

Session Details

“Decriminalizing HIV, Decriminalizing Bodies: From the grassroots to the capitol”

Workshop Session 3 (Friday, 3:00 – 4:30 pm)

Room 305 (3rd Floor)

Read, Listen, Organize!
Want to be more active in the resistance, but not sure how or where to get started?
  • Keep an eye out for your weekly PWN Action Alert! We will offer you plenty of ways to get involved, from marching in the streets to making phone calls.
  • Are you attending the Women’s March or one of the Sister Marches, or an inauguration protest? Send your photos, videos and/or blogs to jsmithcamejo@pwn-usa.org to share through our social media, website and these newsletters!