December 20, 2019

In this issue:

Meet our Shero of the Month: Sonia Rastogi
PWN Launches PWNCares Sister Circle
Abstracts for HINAC4 Due January 5
HINAC4 Art, Poetry & Spoken Word Contest
Meet our PWN Policy Fellowship Year 3 Graduates
LOVE POSITIVE WOMEN 2020

Meet our Shero of the Month: Sonia Rastogi

Our December 2019 Shero of the Month is Sonia Rastogi, who is from the Bay Area in California but is currently living in Edinburgh, Scotland. Sonia, who is a member of PWN’s Board of Directors and was PWN’s first communications coordinator, is a gender-based violence and public health practitioner grounded in a social justice analysis. Currently, she works with women, girls, and communities affected by forced migration, armed conflict, and natural disasters. The PWN staff unanimously agreed that Sonia’s work in healing justice and her leadership of the safety and support team at the Organizing for Power Bootcamp in October was pivotal to the bootcamp’s success.

“Sonia led the safety and support team with love, patience, and as much attention to the wellbeing of that team as to the rest of the participants they were going to be supporting through the inevitable challenging moments of tension, conflict, and external pain,” said Jennie Smith-Camejo, PWN’s communications director. “The result was not that no tough moments came up, but rather that the participants were able to get through them without those problems blowing up into crises for everyone around them. That’s not always easy to do, and we are so grateful to her leadership and compassion.”

PWN Launches PWNCares Sister Circle

PWN-USA is closing out 2019 with a BANG! We are pleased to announce the launch of a project dedicated specifically to provide social support and community to women living with HIV. #PWNCares Sister Circle, which will launch in January 2020, will provide tools, resources, and tips for service and care providers and support groups working with women living with HIV to address some of the life challenges they face — while offering opportunities for them to connect with a vibrant national community of women thriving with HIV.

“The #PWNCares series is a wonderful resource for starting meaningful conversations with women living with HIV,” said Tiommi Luckett, PWN communications and training assistant, who was also interviewed in three of the videos. Join our orientation webinar on January 14, 2020 at 2p EDT/ 1p CDT/ 12p MDT/ 11a PDT.

HIV is Not a Crime IV Announces Call for Abstracts

The call for abstracts is now open! HIV is Not a Crime IV, the fourth national training academy to educate and train 300 people living with HIV (PLHIV), stakeholders and policy leaders to mobilize state-level advocacy to end HIV-related criminalization, will be held May 30 – June 2, 2020, at The Ohio State University in Columbus, OH.

There will be four tracks, focusing on: 1) Effective & Accountable Leadership, 2) Rights, Policy and Justice, 3) Campaign Planning, Strategy and Messaging and 4) Core Curriculum.

Abstract submissions will be accepted through January 17, 2020 by 5:00 pm CST (6:00 pm EST, 3:00 PST). You will receive notice of acceptance on Friday, February 28, 2020.

Submit your proposal here!

HIV is Not a Crime IV Announces 2nd Visual, Written & Spoken Word Art Contest

The HIV is Not a Crime IV (HINAC4) Hospitality and Culture Work Group is now taking applications for the 2nd HINAC Visal, Written & Spoken Word Art Contest

. Last years’ submissions maintained the guiding principles of challenging stigma, elevating the voices of people impacted by criminalization, being accurate and thinking beyond behavior. This year, there is a chance for three people to win a scholarship to HINAC, one winner from each category of Visual Art, Written Art and Spoken Word.Winners will also have their work transposed into a postcard to be sent out in educational campaigns for the public, including legislators.

Applicants can submit work via photos, uploading short videos or documents to show their expression of what it means to them when laws target people living with HIV for prosecution and excessive punishment in an effort to make them solely responsible for the sexual risk behaviors of others. For those who missed the webinar live, you can view and listen to the recording.

The deadline to complete the form is February 28, 2020. Winners will be notified March 20, 2020.

Enter the contest here

Congratulations 2019-2020 PWN-USA Policy Fellow Graduates

PWN-USA is pleased to announce the third graduating class of our Policy Fellowship. These 2019-2020 fellows successfully completed a 9-month-long fellowship to build the policy leadership bench for women, including women of trans experience, directly impacted by the epidemic and historically underrepresented in the federal health policy advocacy arena. As part of the program, the fellows created and completed a practicum project.

Coaches for Year 3 included the incredible Suraj Madoori from Treatment Action Group, Diana Rhodes from Advocates for Youth, Jamille Fields Allsbrook from Center for American Progress, and JD Davids from JD Strategies. We are so grateful for their support of our Fellows.

Jamie Collins (TX): This fellow is creating palm cards that explain the process of a name change and gender marker change in Texas. Positive Women’s Network-USA is the de facto host organization.

Sharon Decuir (LA): This fellow created pieces of training to be used for a lobby day in Louisiana as well as follow up meetings to strategize ways to have legislators include more funding for services that people living with HIV need. The host organization for this fellow’s practicum is OPEN Health Care Clinic.

Deirdre Johnson (VA): This fellow drafted talking points for annotated codes of Virginia law regarding HIV and created a palm card to inform people in the state about current HIV criminalization laws in VA. The host organization for this Fellow’s practicum is ECHO-VA.

Antoinette Jones (GA): This fellow created a Reproductive Justice training for He Is Valuable, a same-gender-loving organization, about the ways in which reproductive justice affects them. The training includes a RJ Dating App. The host organization for this Fellow’s practicum is He Is Valuable, Inc.

Sophia Kass-Martinkus (CA): This fellow created a trans-centered reproductive justice framing document calling for a change to the cis-normative language used in reproductive justice spaces and organizations. The host organization for this fellow’s practicum is Transgender Law Center.

Sherryl Lamm (OR): This fellow created a factsheet explaining Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U) specifically for organizations and clinics in Oregon when she saw that they were not sharing this information with people living with HIV. The host organization for this Fellow’s practicum is the Multnomah County Health Department.

Rica Rodriguez (CO): This fellow created a syringe service program factsheet. The host organization for this Fellow’s practicum is Rocky Mountain CARES.

Connie Shearer (NV): This fellow created a palm card on proposed HIV-modernization laws in Nevada. The host organization for this Fellow’s practicum is the SERO Project.

Learn more about our policy fellows here

LOVE POSITIVE WOMEN 2020

Visual AIDS, Fire Island Artist Residency, Positive Women’s Network — USA, The Well Project, and Dieu Donne are all collaborating to do something special for women living with HIV on the occasion of LOVE POSITIVE WOMEN 2020.

Are you a woman living with HIV who would like to receive a handmade card on Valentine’s Day for LOVE POSITIVE WOMEN?

To receive a handmade valentine’s card, please email your name and mailing address to [email protected] by January 31, 2020.

Cards will be mailed out at the beginning of February so that they arrive by Valentine’s Day, February 14. (International mailings may arrive in the second half of the month.) Respecting the privacy of receipts, envelopes will bear the recipient’s address without additional information.

Please note that the valentines are for women living with HIV only. Thank you for respecting this.