Women's Stories

Svitlana Moroz is a Ukrainian women's rights activist living with HIV. She is one of the founders of the Union of Women of Ukraine Affected by HIV and has coordinated activities for the Eurasian Women's Network on AIDS. In this Take 5, UN Women speaks with Moroz about the importance of women's voices during the 22nd International AIDS Conference and beyond.

For women living with HIV facing violence in Ukraine, lack of awareness, shelters and support services pose additional challenges. Peer-support groups and the National Women’s Forum on HIV, supported by UN Women is bringing awareness, action and new beginnings for HIV women survivors of violence living with HIV.

Baby Rivona is a passionate advocate of women living with HIV and AIDS. Her mission is to guarantee access to treatment, services and a life free of stigma and discrimination for women living living with HIV and AIDS.

Baby Rivona has advocated passionately on behalf of women living with HIV and AIDS in Indonesia since 2005. She contracted the disease herself through drug use, and was shocked by the stigma and the lack of support she encountered, from both her government and wider society.

I am Mariana Iacono, from Buenos Aires, Argentina. I’m a social worker and student of history. I love swimming in the sea if there are no jellyfish. I love reading and practicing sports. I work in education in two high-schools and I’m also a HIV/AIDS activist in RAMVHIS (Network of Women Living With AIDS in Argentina). I’m a member of Fundacion Buenos Aires SIDA and I represent them in a INADI forum. I have a mother and a father who are lovely,...

"I just wanted to make a difference and change women's lives. More women need to be empowered, have a voice and be able to stand up for their rights." Being diagnosed with HIV often leads to social exclusion. Not for Marlyn Cameron. When she was diagnosed in 2010, she took matters into her own hands, and joined the Sunshine Support Group in the Caribbean country of Guyana, a local network that empowers and supports women living with HIV and AIDS...

I am Manisha and I have been HIV+ for the last 8 years. I came to know of my status in 2002 when my husband fell sick. I had not known that he was HIV+. Even when he told me, I did not take it very seriously as I had no knowledge about this disease and took it as a common ailment like TB or malaria. But my husband knew the gravity of the situation. Twice we both tried to commit suicide, but then I decided to take life as it came. My husband died...

I am Muthukani (29 years old). My husband is a driver. He was affected by HIV. I have two children, both girls. My younger daughter is HIV positive. In 2005 at a government ART centre, I was approached by an outreach worker of the Positive Women Network (PWN+). I began to regularly attend support group meetings and receive counselling on taking care of my family's health.

When my husband died because of some diseases related to HIV, I thought I had lost everything. At that time I didn't know about HIV, and my younger child and I tested positive for HIV. When I saw my son was seriously ill with TB, I felt he would die very soon. I didn't know where I would go for medicines and other support. I really got angry with my husband who gave us this disease. My daughter is 'negative,' so I know my in-laws will take care...

Longtime Rising Voices grantee Repacted from Nakuru, Kenya continues its work in surrounding communities using magnet theater as a way to engage the community, and youth especially, through dramatic interpretations that present real-life situations involving health issues such as HIV/AIDS and TB. The members of the Repacted team showcase their role-playing abilities in order to provide awareness and education to the community, but also to...

Leah Okeyo is a community activist, blogger, author, and World Pulse correspondent. She is co-founder of two women's organizations-Jacolo Rural Women Response to HIV/AIDS, and Positive Action for Change (PACHO)-and is a participant in RV's "Blogging Positively" project. She is a Kenyan citizen and mother of six, who dreams of bringing computer technology and Internet access to her community, and who blogs regularly for a global audience.

I first heard about Barbara Kemigisa in a local church in Kampala, Uganda. She was giving a testimony about her life. When she first started talking, many people in the congregation were ready to hear the common conclusion "I thank God for....." However, she caught everyone's attention when she said these words "I am HIV Positive". The mood changed as she went on narrating her ordeal and how she acquired the disease. She concluded by saying that...

I am Gracia Violeta Ross Quiroga, a 28-year-old woman from Bolivia living with HIV. It was in March 2000, when I had an infection that would not heal, that I went to hospital for tests. I was tested for many different illnesses including HIV. When the HIV test came back HIV positive, I could not believe it. My family did not reject me but received me with open arms, and told me they did not want to know what happened, they just wanted to be with...

Annah Sango, from Zimbabwe, is 24 and a vocal activist for HIV prevention. She attended the 2012 Commission on Population and Development with the support of UNAIDS, on behalf of the International Community of Women Living with HIV and AIDS, and spoke at a side event co-sponsored by UN Women. In this video, she speaks about how HIV has impacted her life, and the need for more young women and girls to get involved in its prevention.

Intersectional feminist principles form the basis of Metzineres practices, a Barcelona based harm reduction organization. The Metzineres model highlights not only the interconnectedness of the social determinants of health but also the critical importance of a ‘holistic person centered’ approach to service users. Metzineres’s innovative and unique model has achieved worldwide acclaim and attention in the harm reduction sector and is cited as an...