Breaking the Silence Equality Matters Project
Breaking the Silence: Equality Matters Project
Ensuring the voices of Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Refugee (BAMER) Women are heard and spearhead positive change.
ACT FOR EQUALITY
HIV-related stigma and discrimination prevent many people from accessing the health services they need and to live a good quality of life beyond viral suppression. HIV related stigma is linked with poorer mental health outcomes, including emotional distress, reduced self-esteem and is one of the strongest hindrances to effectively responding to HIV, as the health care providers' attitudes towards People Living with HIV (PLHIV) may influence the actual services offered.
As result, PLHIV lack confidence in healthcare staff outside specialist HIV clinics and this leads to worry about the treatment and care they will receive now and in their later life and also means that in turn HIV can remain untreated.
Last year, Reinventing Success organised an HIV awareness workshop which was attended by community and faith leaders and PLHIV. At the end of this workshop, participants came up with action plans including among others, provision of an HIV educational tool for health and social care providers that aims to reduce HIV/AIDS-related stigma in health and care settings and also recommended to increase resilience amongst WLHIV.
Reinventing Success and Catholics for AIDS Prevention and Support (CAPS) have been funded to deliver a new project for women living with HIV in Greater Manchester. The project involves leadership skills building and drama workshops to create an educative online drama resource for health and social care providers. WLHIV will be empowered to develop skills to enable them protect their rights, build resilience, influence policies and challenges discriminatory practices in health and social care settings
Drama will be used to create an online educational video resource devised for health and social care providers, which will be performed by WLHIV and volunteers. We believe the resource will help to increase the understanding of health and social care professionals on dealing with people living with and the process will also enable women to build their confidence.
Who is this project for?
Any woman living with HIV in Greater Manchester and are ready to say ‘No’ to HIV discrimination in health and social care.
Project Information
Leadership Skills workshops
These will held at George House Trust and will be delivered in collaboration with Positively UK. A series of other workshops in preparation for the Catwalk for Power will follow.
When?
Information session: 28th Sept 2019 at 1pm
Leadership skills workshop: 5th Oct 2019
For more information about Catwalk for Power please follow this link https://ght.org.uk/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=1942
Residential workshop to create an online resource
The venue for the residential workshop will be confirmed to participants.
When?
From 18th Oct to 20th Oct 2019
How do I Register?
Please follow this link https://www.eventbrite.com/e/equality-matters-act-for-equality-residential-leadership-and-drama-workshops-tickets-73734045515
Or email us at info@reinventingsuccess.org
Places for the residential workshop are limited and given on first come first serve basis, once they have been taken, there will be no more places made available.
Background to Breaking the Silence
The fear of others’ reactions about their HIV status can put women under enormous stress, affect their mental health. Many WLWHIV report feeling socially isolated, as well as being physically unwell. Although the international community has significantly done a lot to reduce the effects of gender inequality and HIV related stigma and discrimination against WLWHIV, there is still much to be done, as social injustices and violence against women remain across the globe.
People who are diagnosed with HIV still experience high levels of discrimination and social stigma, at work, whilst accessing health care or in the general public. These prevent many women in the UK from accessing the services they need and to live a good quality of life beyond viral suppression. WLWHIV also experience the extra burden of being blamed for bringing HIV into a relationship as are likely to be tested first, during pregnancy or health tests.
They then bear threats from husbands for instance that their HIV status will be exposed to the wider community or that they will report them to the police under charges for criminal transmission of HIV.
Globally, women account for more than half the number of people living with HIV. Young women (10-24 years old) are twice as likely to acquire HIV compared to young men of the same age. This is because women and young girls are more vulnerable as a result of unequal cultural, social and economic status. In many countries, gender inequality in education and controlled social autonomy among women is directly associated to lower access to sexual health care, as well as HIV testing, treatment and support. Further, financial disproportions and intimate partner violence in relationships continually hamper a woman’s ability to negotiate condom use and protect herself from HIV.
