[Viva] Fwd: National Day of Action to End Violence against Women with HIV, Primary ICWNA Membership Email

[Margarite Sanchez]

This has been in my inbox for a few days .... a little late but I thought i
would share anyways.
M
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: ICW NA <icwnacontact at gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Oct 23, 2014 at 11:26 AM
Subject: National Day of Action to End Violence against Women with HIV,
Primary ICWNA Membership Email
To: Karen Marcinczyk <gigicatraoine at gmail.com>


**apologize for cross-posting and duplication to forwarded message**


Dear ICWNA Members


Today, Thursday, October 23, 2014 is First-Ever National Day of Action to
End Violence against Women with HIV.

*https://pwnusa.wordpress.com/2014/10/23/break-the-culture-of-vawhiv/
<https://pwnusa.wordpress.com/2014/10/23/break-the-culture-of-vawhiv/>*


 The International Community of Women Living with HIV, North America
(ICWNA), joins with our sisters at PWN-USA, and all women across the nation
and endorses this important day of action.


As a global organization, we stand with all women, all around the world,
from all cultures and all walks of life to speak out against violence
against women.

I am also encouraging ICWNA members to recognize and act on this day of
awareness as a survivor of violence, myself. I know from my experience, and
that of other women who I have met as a result, the experience of violence
against women does not necessarily fall into narrow definitions. I also
know that no woman is immune from acts of violence.


To highlight this awareness and In the spirit of this Day of Action, I have
gathered some statistics from the United States and Canada, as well as
examples of global definitions of Domestic Violence, Violence Against Women
to demonstrate the broad range of types and incidents of violence including
violence against women living with HIV.


It is important to recognize that incidences of violence, as experienced by
women across the nation and around the world, are varied, yet all types of
violence are shown to affect the health and well-being, usually for the
long-term.


*“The longer-term health consequences of domestic violence**: There is
mounting evidence that domestic violence (DV) has long-term negative
consequences for survivors, even after the abuse has ended. This can
translate into lower health status, lower quality of life, and higher
utilization of health services. (Campbell et al. 2002, p. 1157)”*
http://www.adfvc.unsw.edu.au/pdf%20files/physical_health.pdf


*The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) *(United States)
describes domestic violence as “intrinsically connected to the societal
oppression of women...” They include *all women,* as a group, as a
traditionally oppressed group and go even further to describe more specific
overlapping descriptions of oppression that can create additional
vulnerabilities to violence. *http://www.ncadv.org/learn/TheProblem.php
<http://www.ncadv.org/learn/TheProblem.php> *

They go on to describe their definition of domestic violence as:


*Domestic violence may include not only the intimate partner relationships
of spousal, live-in partners and dating relationships, also familial, elder
and child abuse may be present in a violent home. Abuse generally falls
into one or more of the following categories: physical battering, sexual
assault and emotional or psychological abuse, and generally escalates over
a period of time. http://www.ncadv.org/learn/TheProblem.php
<http://www.ncadv.org/learn/TheProblem.php>*


The NCADV also has specific links on Domestic Violence and HIV:

*http://www.ncadv.org/learn/DV%20and%20HIV%20AIDS.php
<http://www.ncadv.org/learn/DV%20and%20HIV%20AIDS.php>* including a fact
sheet (attached).


*The Canadian Labour Congress/Le Congrès du travail du Canada*, indicates
that, in Canada, young women are at highest risk for domestic violence,
and, *“**Half of Canadian women have experienced at least one incident of
physical or sexual violence in their lifetime.”** and that “**Aboriginal
women are almost three times more likely than non-Aboriginal women to
report being the victim of a violent crime, including spousal
violence.”  **http://www.canadianlabour.ca/human-rights-and-equality/violence-against-women
<http://www.canadianlabour.ca/human-rights-and-equality/violence-against-women>*



*CATIE, “Canada’s source for HIV and hepatitis C Information”* has posted
results and comprehensive information on a 2013 study completed in Alberta
on HIV positive women and incidences of IPV:

“*The Alberta study has found a high overall rate—40%—of IPV among
HIV-positive women. According to the researchers, it is possible that the
actual rate of IPV is even greater: “Many women experiencing IPV do not
interpret their experiences as IPV, often minimizing the situation.” *For
the complete article:
http://www.catie.ca/en/catienews/2013-09-03/domestic-violence-against-hiv-positive-women-and-its-impact-their-health

References to the study:

Siemieniuk RA, Krentz HB, Miller P, et al. The clinical implications of
high rates of intimate partner violence against HIV-positive women. *Journal
of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes*. 2013 Sep 1; 64(1):32-8.

Siemieniuk RA, Krentz HB, Gill MJ. Intimate partner violence and HIV: a
review.* Current HIV/AIDS Reports.* 2013; *in press*.



Some global definitions:



*United Nations definition*:

*The United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against
Women (1993) defines violence against women as "any act of gender-based
violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or
psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts,
coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public
or in private life."3 **http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs239/en/
<http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs239/en/>*



*UNICEF definition:*


 *Domestic violence against women is common but underreported global
epidemic having health, educational, legal, economic and above all human
right implications. UNICEF defined the term domestic violence as violence
against women and girls by an intimate partner, including cohabiting
partner, and other family members, wherever this violence takes place and
in whatever form.**1
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3955555/#B1> It is manifested
as physical, sexual, psychological and economic abuse. Physical abuse
includes slapping, beating, arm twisting, stabbing, strangling, kicking,
burning, choking, threats with an object or weapon and murder. It is
associated with adverse reproductive health consequences for women
including unwanted pregnancy, miscarriage, pelvic inflammatory disease,
sexually transmitted disease (STD), suicide, homicide and maternal
mortality. **http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/digest6e.pdf
<http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/digest6e.pdf>*



*WHO definition:*


 *PP4 Noting that violence is defined by the WHO **as “the intentional use
of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another
person, or against a group or community that either results in or has a
high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm,
maldevelopment or deprivation2*

*PP5 Noting also that interpersonal violence, distinguished from
self-inflicted violence and collective violence, is divided into family and
intimate partner violence and community violence, and includes forms of
violence throughout the life course, such as child abuse, intimate partner
violence, abuse of the elderly, family members, youth violence, random acts
of violence, rape or sexual assault and violence in institutional settings
such as schools, workplaces, prisons and nursing homes1.
**http://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA67/A67_ACONF1Rev1-en.pdf
<http://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA67/A67_ACONF1Rev1-en.pdf>*



I hope that this information on violence against women will provide you
with vital information for reference and a greater understanding of the
broad problem.



I also encourage everyone to join PWN-USA on Twitter and Facebook to post
your support on this First-Ever National Day of Action to End Violence
against Women with HIV!


*From PWN-USA: (also refer to forwarded message)*
*Things You Can Do on the October 23 Day of Action:*

   1. Check out our social media toolkit
   <http://pwnusa.wordpress.com/2014/10/16/social-media-tools-end-vawhiv/>!
   Includes talking points and recommendations for action
   2. Change your Facebook and/or Twitter profile image to one of the images
   provided
   <http://pwnusa.wordpress.com/2014/10/16/social-media-tools-end-vawhiv/> in
   the toolkit
   3. Tweet and post on Facebook using the toolkit’s sample tweets and posts
   <http://pwnusa.wordpress.com/2014/10/16/social-media-tools-end-vawhiv/> (or
   create your own); be sure to use the Day of Action hashtag *#EndVAWHIV*
   4. Raise your voice! Share your experiences! Contribute to a flash blog
   <http://endvawhiv.blogspot.com/2014/10/join-our-virtual-event-to-endvawhiv.html>
   5. See what in-person events
   <http://pwnusa.wordpress.com/take-action-2/get-involved-day-of-action-end-vawhiv>
are
   happening throughout the US in Denver, Oakland, and beyond
   6. Read up on violence, trauma, women with HIV, and what you can do
   using *these amazing resources*: (please refer to forwarded message from
   Olivia Ford, PWN-USA)

Best,

Karen





Karen L. Marcinczyk, MS
Coordinator
International Community of Women Living with HIV
North America (ICWNA)

icwnacoordinator at gmail.com
icwnacontact at gmail.com
gigicatraoine at gmail.com
Skype: karen.marcinczyk1
917-656-5425

*"*I AM ICW!*"*
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