FUCK FEAR>BE FREE: CAMPAIGN OVERVIEW
Black women have an undeniable place in the history-making of our nation and the HIV movement, as well as the need for racial equity within them both.
As trans and cis Black women continue to be diagnosed with HIV at rates higher than women of all races, NMAC’s Coalition for Justice and Equality Across Movements has launched a stigma reduction campaign to take HIV conversations into Black women’s spaces where they are not occurring.
Launching in Fall 2024, the Fuck Fear > Be Free campaign aims to:
- Prioritize the inclusion of HIV in Black women’s health conversations
- Normalize sexual health and freedom for Black women
- Destigmatize HIV by knowing our status as a doorway to prevention or treatment
Campaign Timeline:
- Campaign Development: Started by NMAC’s Coalition for Justice and Equality Across Movements in 2023 and concluded in August 2024.
- Preview: The campaign was sneak-peeked at NMAC’s U.S. Conference on HIV/AIDS in New Orleans in September 2024.
- Partnership Curation: Starting in September, NMAC is seeking and collaborating with national and community organizations on a rolling basis to share the campaign on their platforms
NMAC Launch: NMAC will launch the campaign on our platforms at the end of October 2024, will share heavily around World AIDS Day in December 2024, and again on National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day in March 2025.
FUCK FEAR>BE FREE: PARTNERSHIP DETAILS
This is not a paid partnership. NMAC will not provide funding to or receive funding from organizations who share this campaign.
Seeking Organizational Partnerships: The Fuck Fear>Be Free campaign was sneak-peeked at the recent U.S.Conference on HIV/AIDS in September 2024. It will be launched on NMAC’s platforms at the end of October 2024. We are now actively curating organizational partners to amplify the campaign on their digital channels as a way to reach Black women beyond traditional HIV settings.
If your organization serves Black trans and cis women, we would love you to be a part of the Fuck Fear>Be Free outreach network. Please email NMAC’s Acting Communications Director, Pavni Guharoy: pguharoy@nmac.org
Partnership Criteria:
- Organization Type: Must be an organization serving, representing, advocating for the health and wellness of Black trans and cis women; you do not have to be an HIV organization
- Platform: Must have at least one active social media platform for your organization where you can share the campaign photos and videos
- Team Contact: Must provide a point of contact (name, email, phone) within the organization who will work with the NMAC team to receive and share the campaign assets
- Sharing: Must share the photos, videos, and messaging as provided on the NMAC website; your organization may add language of your own without altering the language NMAC provides
- Timeline: Must start posting by the first week of November 2024; can continue posting during events related to your organization’s work such as awareness days relevant to Black trans and cis women; you do not have to post only on HIV awareness days
- Metrics: Must be able to provide social media metrics at the end of December 2024 and March 2025 to gather campaign impact
Co-branding Rules:
- This campaign print and video assets, as well as its messaging, are created and owned by NMAC and its Coalition for Justice and Equality Across Movements.
- When your organization is sharing the visual assets on social media, the NMAC logo present on the image or video must be clearly visible.
- When you post on your organization’s social media page, you must tag NMAC in your Facebook, Instagram, and/or LinkedIn post in the caption or in a comment
- If your organization would like to add its own logo on the materials, you may do so by:
- Placing your logo on the bottom right corner of the image
- Ensure that your logo is the same size or smaller than the NMAC logo
HIV RESOURCES
Statistics
Source: Centers for Disease Control, Fast Facts, HIV and Women
- In 2019, approximately 36,801 people were diagnosed with HIV in the United States and dependent areas.
- The most common way of contracting HIV for women was through heterosexual (having sex with men) contact.
- Of those 36,801 people, 6,999 were women across all races
- Of the 6,999 women of all races, 3,812 were Black women, 1,508 were white women, and 1,326 were Latina
- This makes Black women the most affected by HIV compared to women of all other races
- Women between 24-35 years had the highest number of HIV diagnosis
HIV Basics
Source: HIV.gov, HIV Basics
What is HIV?
HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a virus that attacks cells that help the body fight infection, making a person more vulnerable to other infections and diseases. It is spread by contact with certain bodily fluids of a person with HIV, most commonly during unprotected sex (sex without a condom or HIV medicine to prevent or treat HIV), or through sharing injection drug equipment.
What is AIDS?
If left untreated, HIV can lead to the disease AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). AIDS is the late stage of HIV infection that occurs when the body’s immune system is badly damaged because of the virus.
HIV Testing
The only way to know for sure if you have HIV is to get tested. You can visit the HIV.gov Locator to find HIV testing services at a convenient location.
Testing is relatively simple. You can ask your health care provider for an HIV test. Many medical clinics, substance abuse programs, community health centers, and hospitals offer them too. To find an HIV testing location near you, use the HIV Services Locator.
If you test positive, you can be connected to HIV care to start treatment as soon as possible.
If you test negative, you have the information you need to take steps to prevent getting HIV in the future.
HIV self-testing is also an option. Self-testing allows people to take an HIV test and find out their result in their own home or other private location. With an HIV self-test, you can get your test results within 20 minutes.
HIV Prevention
Source: HIV.gov Pre-exposure Prophylaxis
- PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, is medicine people at risk for HIV take to prevent getting HIV from sex or injection drug use. PrEP can stop HIV from taking hold and spreading throughout your body.
PrEP reduces the risk of getting HIV from sex by about 99% when taken as prescribed. Among people who inject drugs, it reduces the risk by at least 74% when taken as prescribed. PrEP is much less effective when it isn’t taken consistently.
Currently, there are two FDA-approved daily oral medications for PrEP. A long-acting injectable form of PrEP has also been approved by the FDA.
- HIV PEP, or post-exposure prophylaxis, is a short course of HIV medicines taken very soon after a possible exposure to HIV to prevent the virus from taking hold in your body.
You must start it within 72 hours (3 days) after a possible exposure to HIV, or it won’t work. Every hour counts!
PEP should be used only in emergency situations. It is not meant for regular use by people who may be exposed to HIV frequently.
HIV Treatment
Source: HIV.gov Treatment as Prevention
HIV treatment involves taking highly effective medicine that reduces the amount of HIV in your body. HIV medicine is recommended for everyone with HIV, and people with HIV should start HIV medicine as soon as possible after diagnosis, even on that same day.
- People on HIV treatment take a combination of HIV medicines (called an HIV treatment regimen).
- A person’s initial HIV treatment regimen generally includes three HIV medicines from at least two different HIV drug classes that must be taken every day.
- Many people with HIV take two or more different HIV medicines combined in one pill.
- Long-acting injections of HIV medicine, given every two months, are also available if your health care provider determines that you meet certain requirements.
If taken as prescribed, HIV medicine reduces the amount of HIV in your blood (also called your viral load) to a very low level, which keeps your immune system working and prevents illness. This is called viral suppression, defined as 200 copies of HIV per milliliter of blood.
HIV medicine can also make your viral load so low that a standard lab test can’t detect it. This is called having an undetectable viral load. Almost everyone who takes HIV medicine as prescribed can achieve an undetectable viral load, usually within 6 months after starting treatment.
HIV Stigma
Source: CDC Let’s Stop HIV Together
HIV stigma is negative attitudes and beliefs about people with HIV. It is the prejudice that comes with labeling an individual as part of a group that is believed to be socially unacceptable.
Here are a few examples:
- Believing that only certain groups of people can get HIV
- Making moral judgments about people who take steps to prevent HIV transmission
- Feeling that people deserve to get HIV because of their choices
HIV Conversation Starters
Knowing how to talk about HIV helps reduce the stigma. CDC’s Let’s Stop HIV Together campaign has resources to make it easier:
- Language to help you begin the conversation. Visit the webpage.
- A simple guide on using the correct language. Get the factsheet.
HIV Awareness Days are a good point to begin conversations within your family, friends, and community. Find an awareness day that relates to you and share resources on your social media platforms.
Contact
For more information about the Fuck Fear > Be Free campaign and to become a partner, please contact: