SALAMANDER TRUST AT AIDS 2024
Salamander Trust is taking part in AIDS 2024
This year we are delighted to have contributed to 3 posters and one oral presentation in the abstract-driven conference. See below for the posters which have been published so far.
TODAY is our Oral Abstract Session, OAF41. Joyce Ouma, of the POWER Group and the Global Network of Young People living with HIV, presents on behalf of the POWER Group our research about the lack of content on gender or on our SRHR at AIDS Conferences. This is ORAL ABSTRACT session OAF41 in Room 5/Channel 8 at 13.30-14.30 CET. “85% of oral abstracts were either overwhelmingly gender neutral, or focused on prevention or men”.
Our THIRD poster, THPED363, describes the rationale behind the creation of the STREAM Network, through the combined powers of women living with HIV and accredited trainers in the holistic, gender-transformative, social norms change Stepping Stones programme. The poster also describes the challenges faced in finding funding for this initiative, despite all the evidence available for the potential effectiveness of our work to overcome both violence against women and violence against children (with its life-long consequences) in the context of HIV. The STREAM Secretariat is Positive Young Women Voices in Kenya. With many thanks to all our STREAM partners across nine countries. To read related resources, including our strategic plan, click here. To access the pdf of this, click here.
Our SECOND poster, WEPED402, charts the chronic lack of representation of women living with HIV and trans people as co-authors of abstracts and as scholarship recipients. We call on IAS to rectify this situation in future conferences. The IAS has – rightly – highlighted the importance of ‘People First’ language in this conference (see our poster below for much more on the critical importance of language). It is time now to call for co-authorship of abstracts with women living with HIV and trans people – and concommitant scholarship allocations – as the next critical recommendation to advance effective, ethical – and sustainable – SRHR for us all. Many thanks to POWER Group Members and the Making Waves Network for all the collaborative work on this over the years! To view the poster as a pdf, click here.
Our FIRST poster, TUPEF664, is a call for respectful language in peri-natal care of women living with HIV. Kindness costs nothing – and is priceless. It means so much to us as women living with HIV to feel respected and heard – and the pregnancy journey especially is such a sensitive and challenging time. If healthworkers use more respectful language, both we and our babies – and our health providers – will all benefit: it will improve both our SRHR and the health of our children.
To view the poster as a pdf, click here. To read much more about all our work on language over the years, click here. Many thanks to the awesome 4M Network who took the lead on the background research for this poster.