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March 2007 update on new publications, actions you can take, and more!
Advocates for Youth's e-News Update
This Month
March 21st is the FIRST National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
The theme is "A Celebration of Life...Protecting Our Future, Protecting Our People!"
Native communities selected March 21st to commemorate National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day because it marks the start of spring, a time of beginnings and change. In Native cultures, seasons define the cycle and celebration of life. Ceremonies are usually held at the start and end of each season.
This day provides an opportunity to increase awareness of the impact of HIV/AIDS on American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians. HIV/AIDS continues to increase among Native people. Per population, American Indians/Alaska Natives have the third highest rates of HIV/AIDS behind Blacks and Hispanics. Native people are more likely to live in rural areas where there are limited HIV testing services. Stigma about HIV and fear of seeing people they know from their close communities at local health care facilities also act as barriers in preventing people from getting tested.*
National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is an opportunity for Native people and others to create greater awareness about the risks of HIV/AIDS to their communities; to remember those who have died from AIDS; to acknowledge those who are infected and affected by HIV/AIDS; to call for increased resources for testing; and to seek support for increasing treatment and care options.
* Office of Minority Health. "HIV/AIDS and American Indians/Alaska Natives." U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
March 10th was National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
March 10, 2007 marked the second annual National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. The theme was "Taking Action to Save our Lives." Women and girls across the country were encouraged to take action in the fight against HIV/AIDS by: getting tested for HIV; practicing risk avoidance and reduction behaviors to prevent HIV; discussing HIV prevention with partners, friends, and family; and providing support for those living with HIV/AIDS.
According to the CDC's 2004 Surveillance Report of Cases of HIV and AIDS in the United States, 27 percent of new AIDS cases were in women, and 82 percent of these cases were in African-American and Latina Women
If you, your student organization, or your local youth group took action, let us know! You could be featured in our newsletter next month!
For more information about this Awareness day, please visit the Office of Minority Health.
Take Action
Let Your Voice be Heard! Tell Congress to Support Real Sex Education!
You don't have to be in Washington, DC to tell your Representative what you think! Advocates for Youth is sponsoring an in-district lobby effort during the week of April 2-6. During this time, Congress is in recess and your members of Congress will be home.
Use this time to let your voice be heard:
- Schedule a visit with your Representative
- Tell them to support the Responsible Education About Life Act (REAL Act).
Contact the Youth Activist Network at 202.419.3420 to learn how to have an effective meeting!
YAN Updates
Intern with the Youth Activist Network!
The Youth Activist Network is seeking an intern to support our online advocacy and organizing work as well as to assist with the general operations of the Youth Activist Network.
Interns must be in Washington, DC for the duration of their internship
Click here for more information and to apply.
Say What?!
Shhhh. Scrotum is a banned word.
This year's winner of the Newbery Award for Children's Literature, The Higher Power of Lucky, by Susan Patron, has caused quite a stir. The media has turned the spotlight on a few conservative librarians fighting to ban the book and keep from classrooms and public libraries. Why? Because the word scrotum is used once in the book.
Vagina, What?
After an open mic session at JohnJay High School in Westchester, NY, three students were suspended.
For what?
Saying the word "vagina"
In The Spotlight
Erin , 21, is a Youth Activist Network Campus Organizer with Advocates for Youth
I engage in activist work because I believe in the American political system - I believe that by following certain steps, active and activist people can create change in this country. I engage in activist work around sexuality education specifically because I think it's criminal to promote policies that lead to risk of disease.
Activism can be difficult. Realizing that results *are* happening is a bit challenging at times. Activism isn't like community service (or eating ice cream, for that matter) - you don't always automatically feel good afterwards.
However, I find the most rewarding experiences of advocacy and activism are in the people you meet. It's amazing to go to conferences with people who have creative and inspiring ideas, and to interact with a community of people who are just as dedicated to their work and passions as you are.
Right now, most of my energies are focused on the REAL Act and consciousness-raising on my campus (the University of Chicago) about the lack of comprehensive sexuality education in public schools. I also try to promote more sex-positive dialogues and events both on my campus and around Chicago.
I graduate from college in June, and I hope to work with youth and youth organizers either with adolescent sexuality issues or with girls' empowerment programs. Eventually, I'd like to go to graduate schools and work on alternative education.
What in the World
International Women's Day
Op-Ed by Nickie, member of the International Youth Leadership Council
March 8, 2007 - To many, this date has no real significance. But for those of us who care about international issues - March 8th is International Women's Day.
And for 2007 International Women’s Day, I’d like to dedicate this post to the United National Population Fund (UNFPA). Why is UNFPA significant and how does it relate to women? Well, UNFPA is an international development agency that promotes the rights of every woman, man and child to enjoy a healthy life filled with opportunity. Moreover, UNFPA supports countries that use population data to support policies and programs to reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV/AIDS, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect.
To read the full op-ed, please go here.
Read All About It
- The Facts: HIV and Young American Indian/Alaska Native Women
Social, economic, and cultural barriers limit the ability of many American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/AN) young women to receive accurate and adequate information on preventing HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
- The Facts: Dating Violence and Adolescents
Dating violence and abuse can lead to negative sexual health outcomes: the rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and pregnancy are higher for young people who have a history of abuse.
On the Town
I'M TABOO
This campaign gives teens the opportunity to publish their own videos and stories about the importance of comprehensive sexuality education and expands awareness of Answer's indispensable teen-written resources: the Sex, Etc. magazine and Web site, Sexetc.org.
I'M TABOO is a thought-provoking, anti-establishment campaign that springs from the idea that by denying teens comprehensive, honest sex ed we leave many who have questions feeling "taboo." The campaign calls on teens to "make the unspeakable, speakable" and gives teens a platform for self-advocacy, so they can spread the word about their need for and right to comprehensive sex education.
When: The campaign runs through May 20th, 2007.
Where: Get more information here.
Hope Spreads Faster than AIDS - New interactive mapping project
The Global Fund, with its partners Friends of the Global Fight and the United Nations Foundation, has launched a new interactive mapping project to support the "Hope Spreads Faster than AIDS" campaign.
Where: Visit http://www.hopespreads.org today and help show the world that "Hope Spreads Faster than AIDS".
Choice USA's Generation-to-Generation Celebration
Each year, Choice USA honors the achievements of the next generation who are leading the charge to uphold reproductive justice -- young women and men who are making a difference on campuses, in hometowns, in the media, and more.
When: Wednesday, May 23rd
Where: Washington, DC further location TBA
You can help Advocates for Youth with a contribution today. To donate, visit http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/about/donatetoday.htm
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