[Viva] Fwd: The Women's Collective: Fighting for our Lives

Tue Dec 6 23:59:32 PST 2016

Perspective from south of the boarder ...
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From: ICW NA <icwnacoordinator at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Dec 6, 2016 at 9:29 AM
Subject: The Women's Collective: Fighting for our Lives
To: Undisclosed recipients <icwnacoordinator at gmail.com>

*From:* The Women's Collective [mailto:cathleen at womenscollective.ccsend.com
<cathleen at womenscollective.ccsend.com>] *On Behalf Of *The Women's
Collective

World AIDS Day 2016
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December 1, 2016

*Collectively Speaking **on** World AIDS Day 2016*

*Twenty five years ago,* if you had told me I'd be leading the advocacy and
fighting for the lives of women living with HIV in metropolitan D.C. area,
I wouldn't have believed you. I was young, married and in love, had three
beautiful children. Then HIV/AIDS intercepted my perfect life, my American
dream. Nothing can describe the feeling you get, when you are handed a
piece of paper with a four letter death sentence - AIDS. Unless you have
experienced the loss of loved ones, it may be hard to imagine the
heartbreak I still feel for losing my husband and my youngest child to
AIDS. But more than that, was the despair of being an insignificant
statistic in the disease that was being called a "Gay Related Immune
Deficiency." 35 years into the epidemic, the face and the color of HIV has
changed. In 2016, 1 in 4 people living with HIV are women
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001foFfPG9toGzA5fbhRRgy3V3T2QxwJh-8XNrKjqUkFDLLFJ9p53n5agjkdPVT6Hiw2ipwiqjRwdB0lC6wPaaP2t1r_HgT31WjHRJE5o9H1xr8lubxRINZ-Lxb-pIvEk35rUXBYrYdYbItl6_GkkMyENbR6sa5pyysPVhsExEntX-Lpmd9qgRzxaFWCj_z7UJJkTHVNxPRNjJCy78ZbZpKew==&c=uhHlMoArfT34lnKxq-sQbndFBidqLw6OFGN0XVcK1u7kJOehELnZ6g==&ch=8MiT-y7mVROK3vPzW-su31oouQpFz9OSFTn-04_cg-OLk3YyNB320w==>.
In the District, 9 out 10 women living with HIV are black
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001foFfPG9toGzA5fbhRRgy3V3T2QxwJh-8XNrKjqUkFDLLFJ9p53n5agjkdPVT6Hiw6asmmulB-zPKLlV8ggXF1vrbpNXruUM_ML33rLJ9LMXigzU3N6i9hhC9yNseL9vG1LVjSJ1mHP0SoUuVXGXBUn9jDRxk_9L558htwzzwli7Abj4tw3OjGYEIaS7qGFfheYnQE9ARi_0=&c=uhHlMoArfT34lnKxq-sQbndFBidqLw6OFGN0XVcK1u7kJOehELnZ6g==&ch=8MiT-y7mVROK3vPzW-su31oouQpFz9OSFTn-04_cg-OLk3YyNB320w==>.
I can share my story because my grief and my despair gave me the strength I
never knew I had, to fight for my children, and fight on behalf of women.

*Twenty five years ago*, I was newly diagnosed with AIDS, scared, lonely
and stigmatized. Realizing that there had to be others like me, I started a
secret women's phone-support group that became The Women's Collective
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001foFfPG9toGzA5fbhRRgy3V3T2QxwJh-8XNrKjqUkFDLLFJ9p53n5apfL9FFm34Hs-xyqP-4VXqYFiYaRFNdiL9bXNRVECjJaU_VlqJ0nenwIG9fDoAVsVcfir-Db8NZ5ec5R3K0IacywvvP25UNbQhIqmKtzwMim1Zb5ghcH-8m6LSZChrbGdQ==&c=uhHlMoArfT34lnKxq-sQbndFBidqLw6OFGN0XVcK1u7kJOehELnZ6g==&ch=8MiT-y7mVROK3vPzW-su31oouQpFz9OSFTn-04_cg-OLk3YyNB320w==>
(TWC).
8 million services later, we remain D.C.'s only agency that focuses on
women as a "whole person." As women often do, we take care of children,
partners and parents, before we look after ourselves. Many a day our HIV
status gets lost in the daily struggle of making a living. TWC is that
*essential* safe space that offers women the services and support they
need. We're here to provide a space where women become empowered, and
barriers to their healthcare such as food, transportation, child care,
employment, housing...are eliminated. Most importantly, we help women find
their voices to advocate for themselves to their family, their doctors,
their political leaders, and their president.* Right here in the nation's
capital, in the shadow of the Capitol and The White house, is one of the
highest episodes of HIV in the country.*

*Twenty five years ago*, as a woman, I was not allowed to participate in
the first clinical trials for the first HIV medication, AZT. I have a vivid
memory of that phone call, begging and crying to be included in the trial
for the sake of my children who were about to become orphans. Today, I
stand in our nation's capital, representing women around the nation. I
reflect on how far we have come and where we go from here. Scientific
advances like Prevention against Mother to Child Transmission
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001foFfPG9toGzA5fbhRRgy3V3T2QxwJh-8XNrKjqUkFDLLFJ9p53n5agjkdPVT6Hiw6Oe4xeLeInUKglASEDuC8xH5zVJfA4pxK-5bDoojMVX6SEFMJ14yCV-G4dPKKdBHUBOcppJvhrtGvu9uDydah4tl7hANAQ638cEZ8V-Z6wMbwUT0hKGB6jnUtmZEaktA8iCJFU-vkPwFenPcVbau95fdzGIbp1KRUa3e-HelrMFKUvGAsPOz6-1ukahm15mBXjeU7bKR46hFGB2ecqm2AnuGWd8nIJpbikgFmI3K8Ag=&c=uhHlMoArfT34lnKxq-sQbndFBidqLw6OFGN0XVcK1u7kJOehELnZ6g==&ch=8MiT-y7mVROK3vPzW-su31oouQpFz9OSFTn-04_cg-OLk3YyNB320w==>
(PMCT)
that could have saved my child; Pre-exposure Prophylaxis
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001foFfPG9toGzA5fbhRRgy3V3T2QxwJh-8XNrKjqUkFDLLFJ9p53n5agjkdPVT6Hiw8vilZqyd4mvQvHxHOnu8Slj9eSCDdWUha6Cx0pOsY9QSZu0aF_Y6a6GayNaxs0Q1hWKNyJszIVUzmLuM3isROTnqHrsrFerojcKTGOioUvAGyj_5DM06VTbhL5nkssLLgJL_vrcZ_7Fv12elrH1C4ABAgAf0dxGG00t1ltNUkSRdpSH2d2iwV66d1DkAx2lM-Z7ogF5qSdDUrOGW1dx6_A==&c=uhHlMoArfT34lnKxq-sQbndFBidqLw6OFGN0XVcK1u7kJOehELnZ6g==&ch=8MiT-y7mVROK3vPzW-su31oouQpFz9OSFTn-04_cg-OLk3YyNB320w==>
(PrEP),
a pill taken just once a day to prevent HIV that could have prevented me
from contracting HIV from my husband. National policies like the Ryan White
Care Program
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001foFfPG9toGzA5fbhRRgy3V3T2QxwJh-8XNrKjqUkFDLLFJ9p53n5agjkdPVT6HiwevJcFYcSrClQA49ilGrNuvOuXzvkSGdc5HlZhuZR_RW8AC97K3ZGs8C-lcYfHBqWoMrOTWYMGNAO8jwzF_VXJCr4wF5bG_lLJ35ZA3vxO-0HGwJNYHurmW7F5SeVXAFr-lCePCkuNBSnMOIkcFjIoAN4IL0iWiZ7bEAxi6uEBrNtxPk6T8nAZy44ZiErguIR&c=uhHlMoArfT34lnKxq-sQbndFBidqLw6OFGN0XVcK1u7kJOehELnZ6g==&ch=8MiT-y7mVROK3vPzW-su31oouQpFz9OSFTn-04_cg-OLk3YyNB320w==>
, Medicaid
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001foFfPG9toGzA5fbhRRgy3V3T2QxwJh-8XNrKjqUkFDLLFJ9p53n5agjkdPVT6Hiwla8Yo5JRWZgAFsNBIVe7Hc8wQC1AMekxWZYzM2GRG6R3-nFlY6TW-xYTndynQH_C6wfq_G3iPlx12pRc1lXtN2JfWi8EGmSvaprq-2MtrdGJHK_RXkSPGZzx4VEbU4ZKA1iVkN7S583pjQoq7TLHq91JMCk1zOO4E4R7s20uB6tEjSAyLWMk-FrAyiPtf3o9rfB8qnXswQqpapEjhJ4JbZ5rFyBctV8n&c=uhHlMoArfT34lnKxq-sQbndFBidqLw6OFGN0XVcK1u7kJOehELnZ6g==&ch=8MiT-y7mVROK3vPzW-su31oouQpFz9OSFTn-04_cg-OLk3YyNB320w==>and
the Affordable Care Act
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001foFfPG9toGzA5fbhRRgy3V3T2QxwJh-8XNrKjqUkFDLLFJ9p53n5agjkdPVT6HiwLvSUy79ZmmPGKZShdUXGY1sMOmSRuhSGOBQl_x8aGZZOdeGt5YC-iqNt_jimzmJTckGAN25hkDkJwJ39UF_P_GU1SuZ_CW0Owdv5AnRH5IeTN8BSsK496NH6ej3NaVqzlxa1Z7lTTnoowutLd6y_QzaAEYh-T3VBEuII9GfmhrU=&c=uhHlMoArfT34lnKxq-sQbndFBidqLw6OFGN0XVcK1u7kJOehELnZ6g==&ch=8MiT-y7mVROK3vPzW-su31oouQpFz9OSFTn-04_cg-OLk3YyNB320w==>
(ACA)
that have made it impossible for many women like myself to be denied
insurance because of a pre-existing condition.

*Today*, in the face of a new administration, how do we protect our right
to health? Can we raise our voices collectively to be heard in these
uncertain times? Can we unite to fight for our lives? Why do we need to
fight for our lives you ask? Because HIV is now a disease of the poor and
marginalized; the same people dying of diabetes and heart disease,
substance abuse and violence, are dying of HIV. Because the drugs and
medical care to live healthy with HIV are unaffordable without Ryan White
Services and ACA; Because women are still underrepresented in clinical
trials. Because more black women are dying of HIV than any other affected
population. We need to fight because HIV has to be stopped from killing
black women.

*Pat Nalls is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of The Women's
Collective. Her story launches our monthly blog series "Collectively
Speaking." Next, we want your stories of courage, survival and hope. We are
uniting in the fight to save our lives, one story at a time. For more
info: **www.womenscollective.org*
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001foFfPG9toGzA5fbhRRgy3V3T2QxwJh-8XNrKjqUkFDLLFJ9p53n5apfL9FFm34Hs-xyqP-4VXqYFiYaRFNdiL9bXNRVECjJaU_VlqJ0nenwIG9fDoAVsVcfir-Db8NZ5ec5R3K0IacywvvP25UNbQhIqmKtzwMim1Zb5ghcH-8m6LSZChrbGdQ==&c=uhHlMoArfT34lnKxq-sQbndFBidqLw6OFGN0XVcK1u7kJOehELnZ6g==&ch=8MiT-y7mVROK3vPzW-su31oouQpFz9OSFTn-04_cg-OLk3YyNB320w==>
.
View our blog at:https://thewomenscollective.wordpress.com/

*Learn More
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International Community of Women Living with HIV
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