Understanding How I Became HIV Positive
By Rachel Moats, PWN-USA-San Diego Member Rachel Moats. Two months ago my life was turned upside down for the second time. The first time was on March 19, 2013, when I found out I was HIV Positive. I [...]
Words Matter: Sharing as Much as I’m Comfortable to Stand Up to HIV Stigma
By Tami Haught, PWN-USA Member Tami Haught. How we introduce ourselves makes a difference; the words we use matter. When asked at a meeting to introduce myself, I will start with: My name is Tami Haught and I [...]
I'm Feelin' Like a Criminal: Why the Law Won’t Stop the Spread of HIV
By Loren Jones, PWN-USA Board Member Loren Jones. Some of us, due to our chance assignment from birth to certain races, genders, and classes, have pretty much been outlaws all our lives. And now, here we go; another [...]
I’m Feelin’ Like a Criminal: Why the Law Won’t Stop the Spread of HIV
By Loren Jones, PWN-USA Board Member Loren Jones. Some of us, due to our chance assignment from birth to certain races, genders, and classes, have pretty much been outlaws all our lives. And now, here we go; another [...]
The Red Flags of My Past (and Future): Real Links Between Trauma and HIV
By Heather It wasn’t until February 10, 2015, that I truly realized the profound connection between trauma and HIV. I always knew about a correlation, but what did that really mean to me? It meant everything I had read regarding [...]
Reflections on How Far Women with HIV Have Come in the Past 16 Years: A Personal View
By Olga Irwin, Regional Co-Chair, PWN-USA-Ohio Olga Irwin. Olga Irwin studied at Youngstown State University and became a licensed social worker in 2009. She was diagnosed with AIDS in 1999. Since her diagnosis she has become involved in [...]
We’ve Come Too Far to Have HIV Criminalization Laws
How These Laws Impact the Lives of Women with HIV By Teresa Sullivan, PWN-USA Board Member Teresa Sullivan. Now that the United States has access to over 36 medicines for the treatment of HIV, people are living longer [...]
Bringing Visibility to Same-Gender-Loving Women This National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
By Penny DeNoble, PWN-USA Member Penny DeNoble. Tuesday, March 10, 2015, is the 10th annual National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. As social, community, and government groups across the nation prepare to bring awareness to the susceptibility that [...]
PWN-USA Gives Testimony Against Harmful HIV-Specific Bill in Rhode Island
To: Rhode Island Legislative Committee Members Re: Public Testimony on House Bill 5245 Hearing Date: February 24, 2015 Positive Women’s Network-USA, a national member body of women living with HIV, opposes H5245. This proposed bill stands in stark contrast to [...]
Do All Black Lives Matter?
On National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, Amplifying the Voices of Women, Youth, and Transgender Women FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Olivia Ford, oford.pwnusa@gmail.com / 347.553.5174 February 7, 2015 – This National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD), Black women remain 20 times [...]
Services for Women and Youth with HIV Gutted Yet Again!
PWN-USA Responds to the President's Budget Proposal to Eliminate Ryan White Part D FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Olivia Ford, oford.pwnusa@gmail.com / 347.553.5174 February 3, 2015 – Brooklyn, NY – This Groundhog Day, the forecast for women with HIV looks bleak. [...]
When Ignorance Kills, Nobody Wins: Advocates Reflect on an HIV-Related Murder Case
By Morénike Giwa Onaiwu and Venita Ray Elisha Maxine Henson was a Texas mother with a big love for family, especially her two sons. A stay-at-home mom with a bright smile, Elisha enjoyed riding motorcycles and was a member of a [...]
PWN-USA Recognizes International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers
On this day, December 17, 2014, Positive Women’s Network-USA stands with our sisters in recognizing December 17 as the International Day to End Violence against Sex Workers. This Day to End Violence against Sex Workers originated in response to acts [...]
A Summit for Women with HIV: Nothing About Us without US
By Naimah Oneal, Regional Co-Chair, PWN-USA-Ohio Naimah Oneal. I came to Fort Walton Beach with great expectations about the PWN-USA Summit, and learned that I am surrounded by some amazing women. I stepped off the plane to a [...]
World AIDS Day 2014, PWN-USA Style
The impact of advocacy by women living with HIV is happening, and is felt, all the time in communities where our members and sisters are doing their work on behalf of their communities. World AIDS Day is a time to [...]
Intersectionality, HIV Justice, and the Future of Our Movement
Part 1: An Introduction to Intersectionality "If we aren’t intersectional, some of us, the most vulnerable, are going to fall through the cracks." - Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw HIV thrives in conditions of structural inequity - where the workings of poverty, [...]
Break the Culture of Violence Against Women with HIV and All Women
First-Ever National Day of Action to End Violence Against Women with HIV Observed on October 23 With Rallies, Ruckus-Raisings and Social Media Actions Across the US FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Olivia Ford, oford.pwnusa@gmail.com / 347.553.5174 October 23, 2014 – Violence [...]
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: Change your Facebook and/or Twitter profile image to one of the [...]
PWN-USA Applauds Federal Progress Addressing the Intersections of Violence Against Women, HIV, and Trauma
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Olivia Ford - oford.pwnusa@gmail.com - 347.553.5174 October 10, 2014 - Today, during Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we congratulate the White House Office of National AIDS Policy on today's release of Updates on Efforts to Address the Intersections of HIV/AIDS, Violence [...]
What Are PWNers Doing at the US Conference on AIDS?
PWN-USA members and staffers are all over the United States Conference on AIDS (USCA) 2014, happening this week at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel in San Diego, CA – we’re presenting, exhibiting, speaking, and more! If you’re at the [...]
Everything You Need to Know About SPEAK UP!
Lepena Reid, Janet Kitchen and Rose Todd, South Florida SPEAK UP! A National Leadership Summit for Women Living with HIV is just one week away! Here's everything you need to know, whether you're coming to the Summit or following [...]
Two Women with HIV Join Obama’s Pool of Top HIV Advisors
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Olivia Ford - oford.pwnusa@gmail.com - 347.553.5174 September 4, 2014 - Positive Women’s Network – USA (PWN-USA) congratulates two of our members, Gina Brown of New Orleans and Grissel Granados of Los Angeles, on their recent appointments [...]
Day of Action to End Violence Against Women with HIV: Save the Date, Join the Call
On October 23, 2014, during Domestic Violence Awareness Month, PWN-USA is spearheading a National Day of Action to End Violence Against Women Living with HIV. Please join us for the first Day of Action planning call on Thursday, September 4, [...]
“I’m Going to SPEAK UP! Because …”: Why Women Leaders Are Attending PWN-USA’s Summit (Videos)
In just one short month, 200 women living with HIV from every region and corner of the United States will gather in Fort Walton Beach, FL, for SPEAK UP! A National Leadership Summit for Women Living with HIV. Lepena Reid, [...]
"I'm Going to SPEAK UP! Because …": Why Women Leaders Are Attending PWN-USA's Summit (Videos)
In just one short month, 200 women living with HIV from every region and corner of the United States will gather in Fort Walton Beach, FL, for SPEAK UP! A National Leadership Summit for Women Living with HIV. Lepena Reid, [...]
PWN-USA Congratulates UCSF Women’s Health Clinic on Landmark Study of Women, Trauma and HIV Disclosure
Contact: Olivia Ford - oford.pwnusa@gmail.com - 347.553.5174 July 16, 2014 – Last Friday, University of California – San Francisco (UCSF) researchers released study results that add to the growing body of literature surrounding healing from trauma as an essential component of HIV care for [...]
Texas Advocates Respond to a Young Woman’s HIV-Related Murder
By Morénike Giwa Onaiwu, Venita Ray and Dena Hughes Elisha Henson. Readers may already be aware of the tragic May murder of Elisha Henson, a 30-year-old Texas mother of two who was brutally strangled and dumped into a lake a few months [...]
Ending the Spectrum: A Timeline of Women’s Struggles Through a Gender and Human-Rights Lens
By Teresa Sullivan, PWN-USA Board of Directors Teresa Sullivan. “We, as women living with HIV, envision a life free from violence, coercion, and discrimination for all people. We, as women living with HIV, demand an end to the [...]
Facts, Not Fear: In Ohio and Everywhere, HIV Is Not a Crime
By Naimah Oneal, Regional Co-Chair, PWN-USA-Ohio Naimah Oneal. My name is Naimah Oneal; I am a mother, grandmother, auntie and lastly I am a woman living with HIV. I must say that I am truly living with HIV [...]
We Grieve for Elisha and Fight to End Violence Against Women With HIV
Positive Women’s Network – USA Mourns and Condemns the HIV-Related Murder of a Texas Woman Contact: Olivia Ford, PWN-USA - Brooklyn, NY - oford.pwnusa@gmail.com - 347.553.5174 Venita Ray - Houston, TX [...]
Happy 6th Birthday, PWN-USA!
Positive Women's Network - USA is turning SIX on June 17! Can you believe it? For our birthday, Elton John AIDS Foundation gave us a challenge grant of $10,000 -- meaning EJAF will double every dollar we raise up to our [...]
HIV Is Not a Crime: Images, Perspectives and Strategies from the Grinnell Gathering
Inclusion. Collaboration. Conflict resolution. Restorative justice. Nuance. Challenge. Coalition. Rage. Healing. Power. There was an energy in Grinnell, Iowa, last week as more than 150 dedicated advocates gathered for HIV Is Not a Crime: The Grinnell Gathering, from June 2-5, [...]
PWN-USA Presents: Donald Sterling’s Stigma Smackdown
May 15, 2014 -- Have you heard? Bigoted L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling's latest target is people living with HIV, and HIV community leaders and media makers alike are not taking the bait. Sterling has recently been raked over the media [...]
PWN-USA Applauds Release of Daily HIV Prevention Pill Guidelines as Move Toward Sexual and Reproductive Rights
May 15, 2014 -- Yesterday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) took a major step towards advancing sexual and reproductive health, rights, and choice, by releasing guidelines for the use of a daily HIV prevention pill: Truvada [...]
We Still Need Family-Centered Programs for Women With HIV: My Part D Story
By Evany Turk Evany Turk. Women are a vital part of our community. Women wear lots of hats and control much of the household, and when a woman is diagnosed with HIV that doesn't stop. Unfortunately she now [...]
Healthy Women Make Healthy Communities: Reflections on a Time Before Ryan White Part D
By Margot Kirkland-Isaac Margot Kirkland-Isaac. I was truly saddened when I received the news that the President's proposed 2015 budget sought to eliminate Ryan White Part D. It is unacceptable to me to think that, after all these [...]
AIDSWatch 2014: PWN-USA Takes Washington, D.C. by Storm!
On April 28 and 29, more than 300 HIV advocates descended on Washington, D.C., for AIDSWatch, the largest annual national constituent-based advocacy event focused on HIV in the U.S. -- two days of trainings and visits with lawmakers on Capitol Hill. [...]
Services for Women Are Not Disposable! PWN-USA Responds to the President’s Budget Proposal to Eliminate Ryan White Part D
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Olivia Ford, oford.pwnusa@gmail.com / 347.553.5174 March 26, 2014, New Orleans, LA - Just a few weeks ago, President Obama's budget for 2015 was released, proposing the elimination of Part D of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, which provides [...]
The Evolution of HIV Stigma: An Interview with PWN-USA’s Board Chair Barb Cardell, from the Atlas Newsletter
The Evolution of HIV Stigma: An Interview with PWN-USA's Board Chair Barb Cardell, from the Atlas NewsletterReposted from the Atlas Newsletter's website"HIV stigma has been prevalent since the virus’ outbreak in the 1980s. While decades of medical advances have changed [...]
PWN-USA Launches Survey to Understand Romantic & Sexual Lives of US Women Living with HIV!
Positive Women's Network - USA is conducting a community-based research project to better understand the romantic and sexual lives of US women living with HIV, and how HIV-positive women, including transgender women, perceive ourselves with regard to sex and relationships. [...]
PWN-USA Launches 2013 Strategic Planning Process!
Dear community - As you may know, in early 2013 the Positive Women's Network - USA transitioned to become an independent and autonomous organization, governed entirely by women living with HIV and accountable to our national constituency of HIV-positive women. [...]
Women’s HIV Advocacy Organizations Continue Building Leadership
WORLD Contact: Cynthia Carey-Grant, Executive Director, ccarey-grant@womenhiv.org, 510.986.0340 PWN-USA Contact: Naina Khanna, Executive Director, naina.khanna.work@gmail.com, 510.681.1169 Women’s HIV Advocacy Organizations Continue Building Leadership Women Organized to Respond to Life-threatening Diseases (WORLD) and the Positive Women’s Network-United States of America [...]
Mother’s Day 2013
This Mother’s Day, the Positive Women’s Network – USA reclaims and redefines motherhood from our perspective. As a network for all women living with HIV, including transgender women, we are: Women who have been discouraged, shamed, and forbidden from having [...]
Tyler Perry’s “Temptation” and People Living with HIV
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: Waheedah Shabazz-El, Founding Member, iamshabazz@yahoo.com, (267) 231-2647 Sonia Rastogi, Communications Director, sbrastogi@gmail.com, (408) 306-6805 Tyler Perry's Temptation Sentences People with HIV to a Lifetime of Stigma and Isolation April 16, 2013, New York, NY – “Tyler [...]
Reflections: Connecting Racist Rhetoric, the Voting Rights Act, and Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
By Susan Mull Don’t you wish pop culture would critique the latest Supreme Court antics surrounding the Voting Rights Act? After all, aren’t we all more than a little appalled by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia saying that a critical [...]
PWN-USA Statement on National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
Updated: Positive Women's Network - United States of America Congratulates the PACHA for passing Criminalization Resolution In observance of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, Positive Women's Network - USA (PWN-USA) urges the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) to pass resolution condemning HIV [...]
Bridging the Wage Gap: Don’t Hesitate to Tell the Truth that’s within Us
by Teresa Sullivan, Philadelphia, PA “The moment we begin to fear the opinions of others and hesitate to tell the truth that is in us, and from motives of policy are silent when we should speak, the divine floods of [...]
Mujeres Unidas: Representing Latinas Living with HIV at AIDS 2012
Mujeres Unidas: Representing Latinas Living with HIV at AIDS 2012 by Martha Zarate My name is Martha Zarate. After 12 consecutive years of trying to have a baby, God gave me the miracle of motherhood in 2000. But through the [...]
Media Accountability and Responsible Reporting on HIV
by Sonia Rastogi In mid-May of 2011, “a brutal rape and sexual assault was not enough. Now the New York Post has turned its vicious sights on the woman who brought assault charges against International Monetary Fund leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn. [...]
It’s About Love
It’s About Love: World AIDS Day 2010 by Naina Khanna This World AIDS Day, December 1st, 2010, I want to talk about love. Yes, love. We talk about sex frequently in the HIV world… but not so much about love. [...]