In this issue:
- Happy New Year from PWN-USA!
- HIV Is Not a Crime Scholarship Application Deadline Approaching!
- Last month for early-bird registration for SPEAK UP! 2018
- Get ready to get fierce: Upcoming PWN-USA webinars you won’t want to miss
- PWN-USA 2018 Policy Fellowship application process opening this month!
- ICYMI: PWN-USA releases new HIV criminalization resources
Happy New Year from PWN-USA!
Dear Community,
2017 was a surreal year in many ways: full of heartbreaks but also triumphs; painful losses and important victories; inexcusable attacks but also fierce resistance and solidarity. As people living with and affected by HIV who are tragically familiar with discrimination and oppression, it is for many of us not the first time we have had to fight for our lives. PWN-USA is proud to have grown stronger over the past year, despite unceasing assaults on our human rights and dignity.
In this spirit of resistance and defiance, sisterhood and solidarity, we welcome 2018 with open arms. We know that our community will face incredible challenges this year. Indeed, the new year began with the Trump administration firing all of the remaining members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA)–read my response to that action here, and check out fired PACHA member Gabriel Maldonado’s interview on the Rachel Maddow Show Tuesday night. But together, we will continue daring to advance a bold agenda aligned with our vision of a world free from stigma and discrimination.
What does 2018 hold for PWN-USA and our members? So much! There is, of course, SPEAK UP! 2018, our national leadership summit for women living with HIV–the only one of its kind. We are again co-convening the HIV Is Not a Crime Training Academy with the Sero Project. We will soon be welcoming aboard the second class of PWN-USA Policy Fellows. We will be releasing several more videos and interactive online Q&A sessions in our PWNCares series. Our new, updated strategic plan and policy agenda are on their way. 
We will be launching an electoral organizing plan. And all of that is just the beginning!
We look forward to working with you this year to make 2018 better for all people living with and vulnerable to HIV. Thank you for being a valuable part of our community!
In sisterhood and solidarity,
Naina Khanna
Executive Director
Apply for a Scholarship to HIV Is Not a Crime Training Academy Today! Deadline Jan. 12
HIV is Not a Crime III National Training Academy, June 3-6, 2018, in Indianapolis, will unite and train advocates living with HIV and allies from across the country on laws criminalizing people living with HIV and on strategies and best practices for repealing such laws. Skills-building training, with an emphasis on grassroots organizing, advocacy, coalition-building and campaign planning, will leave participants with concrete tools and resources to work on state-level strategies when they return home.
Scholarships are available! But you don’t have much time left to apply! The deadline to apply for a scholarship to HIV Is Not a Crime III is January 12 at 5pm EST.
Application in English is available here.
Application in Spanish is available here.
Don’t Miss Your Chance for Discounted Early-Bird Registration for THE Event of 2018!
Are you a woman or person of trans experience living with HIV? Want to build your skills, grow your network and share your knowledge and lived experiences with others? If so, you don’t want to miss SPEAK UP! 2018, the only national leadership summit by and for women living with HIV, happening April 12-15, 2018, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina! Registration is open now and filling up fast!
Discounted early-bird registration ends Jan. 31. Don’t miss your chance to save. Register now here.
Do you work with women and people of trans experience living with HIV? Take advantage of a special, deeply discounted early-bird group registration rate for organizations sponsoring 5 or more women to attend SPEAK UP! Learn more and lock in savings here.
Need to raise some money to get to SPEAK UP! 2018? Check out our fundraising tips here.
Interested in sponsoring SPEAK UP! 2018? We have several levels of sponsorship available, and we’re counting on your generous support to make SPEAK UP! possible. Learn more here.
Get Ready to Get Fierce!
Join Us for These Important Webinars.
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HIV Criminalization 101
TUESDAY, JAN. 9
7PM EST/6PM CST/5PM MST/4PM PST
- What is it and what do the laws look like nationwide?
- How is HIV criminalization inconsistent with modern science and fundamental legal principles?
- What are the current efforts to end HIV criminalization and how can you get involved in Texas?
- How do we build intersectional, durable coalitions that center the needs and perspectives of PLHIV?
- How do we ensure the meaningful involvement of people living with HIV in HIV criminal reform efforts?
HIV Criminalization First Responder Series
Webinar #1: Law, Facts & Policy
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 10
3PM EST/2PM CST/1PM MST/12PM PST
The first webinar in PWN’s First Responder series will include an overview of people first language, facts about HIV criminalization, and the rights of people living with HIV when they face criminalization. This session will also cover how to research state law and policy that impacts people living with HIV. Members from our chapters will discuss the harmful effects of HIV criminalization and why it’s important to support criminalization survivors. Register here!
Self-Care for Advocates Living with HIV
MONDAY, FEB. 5
5PM EST/4PM CST/3PM MST/2PM PST
Join us for a webinar on how to stay centered in the midst of chaos while continuing to advocate for positive change. Hosted by the Black Women Living with HIV Workgroup and presented by PWN-USA Board Member Bre Campbell. Register here!
PWN-USA Welcomes 2018 Policy Fellowship Applications This Month!
We are excited to announce the application process for the second year of PWN-USA Policy Fellowship will open on Monday, January 15!
The PWN-USA Policy Fellowship is a yearlong training program that works to build the policy leadership bench for women, including women of trans experience, directly impacted by the epidemic and historically underrepresented in the state and federal policy advocacy arena. In the current political climate, it more critical than ever to equip women living with HIV (WLHIV) with a wide array of tools to support vibrant, visionary and strategic advocacy on behalf of their communities. Check out our current class of fellows here!
“Becoming a PWN policy fellow was an inspiring and phenomenal experience. It’s an experience every woman should embark upon, because you learn so much about policy on many levels that will assist you in knowing your rights and the rights of others,” said Stacy Jennings, a current PWN-USA policy fellow.
The 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 nonconforming, who live in the South and who possess a strong desire to effect meaningful change in the lives of other WLHIV to apply.
We will be hosting an application webinar on Wednesday, January 17, at 3pm EST/12pm PST. Anyone who is interested in applying and learning more about the program is strongly encouraged to attend. Register here.
Check Out Our New HIV Criminalization Resources for People Living with HIV
PWN-USA is excited to announce the launch of two new resources for 2018 as part of our continued efforts to reform HIV criminalization laws nationwide and to support people living with HIV targeted by those laws.
The first resource is a Know Your Rights Guide for HIV Criminalization. This guide is a collection of important legal information created to be a tool to help people living with HIV protect themselves from prosecution and/or being criminalized under discriminatory HIV-specific laws. It includes specific sections that have information relevant to communities that are most heavily impacted by these laws as well as general information about navigating encounters with law enforcement. Read or download the guide here.
An overview of the guide will be included as part of our second resource, the HIV Criminalization First Responder webinar series. This four-part series will prepare individuals to provide on the ground support for people criminalized because of their HIV status, focusing on expanding capacity to provide legal, social, and media support. Sessions details and registration links are below–be sure to save the date!
JANUARY 10: LAW, FACTS, AND POLICY (3 PM EST/12 PM PST)
See description above. Register here.
JANUARY 22: ACTIVATING SUPPORT NETWORKS (3 PM EST/12 PM PST)
This webinar will cover how to work with local coalitions and organizations, how to create fundraising campaigns and how to create social support systems that keep people living with HIV who are incarcerated connected to their communities and community resources. Register here.
FEBRUARY 5: COMBATING STIGMATIZED REPORTING (3 PM EST/12 PM PST)
The third webinar will focus on media advocacy, including responding to negative and stigmatizing reporting by the press, op-ed writing, creating publicity materials and talking to media about HIV criminalization. Register here.
FEBRUARY 26: NAVIGATING THE CRIMINAL LEGAL SYSTEM (3 PM EST/12 PM PST)
The last webinar will include an in-depth look at the criminal legal system, introducing participants to the main “players” that people experiencing HIV criminalization will encounter, including prosecutors, public defenders and judges. The training will also discuss advocacy techniques for ensuring the privacy and human rights of PLHIV are upheld while engaging these players and navigating the criminal legal system. Register here.
