What's up down South? Mobilizing communities to address the intersection of HIV and reproductive justice in the Deep South

Background: Women in the Southern US, especially African American/Black women, continue to experience the greatest disproportion of sexual and reproductive health disparities, especially women living with HIV.  The key drivers of the Southern HIV crisis are: poor general health status, as 9 of the 10 states with the worst health outcomes are in the South; poverty, as 9 of the 10 states with the lowest median incomes and 6 of the 10 states with highest poverty levels are in the South; race and ethnicity, as African Americans/Black women and men are disproportionately impacted by HIV. Further, geography is critical, as the role of cultural and social conservatism fosters HIV-related stigma, discrimination and criminalization, while prohibiting evidence-based and proven HIV interventions such as comprehensive sexual health and syringe exchange.  An added set of challenges includes conservative policies that limit access to reproductive health services including family planning, contraception, and abortion.

Purpose: To expand awareness of the human rights dimensions of the HIV epidemic and the erosion of reproductive rights for women living with and affected by HIV.  The context for this framework is identifying and naming the most pressing challenges in HIV & reproductive justice movements in a significantly difficult time of economic, social, cultural, political and civic divisions in the South. 

Objectives: By the end of this talk, participants will be able to define and identify challenges to HIV prevention and care as issues of reproductive justice; and to define and discuss reproductive justice related policies and practices that exacerbate these challenges.