To spark conversations among Black women surrounding HIV testing, prevention, stigma and more, the nonprofit NMAC, which works to end the HIV epidemic through a racial justice and health equity lens, launched the “F*ck Fear>Be Free” campaign, according to NMAC.

 

Formerly known as the National Minority AIDS Council, NMAC created the “F*ck Fear>Be Free” campaign through its Coalition for Justice and Equality Across Movement to address the rate of Black women living with HIV.

 

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Black folks in the United States have been disproportionately impacted by HIV since the early days of the epidemic. Black women, along with Latina women, account for more than half of new HIV diagnoses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Additionally, Black women make up the largest share of all women living with HIV, KFF Health News reports.

 

Issues such as stigma, discrimination, limited access to health care, higher rates of poverty and lack of awareness of HIV status contribute to the troubling statistics with respect to Black Americans and HIV.

 

Launched late last month, the campaign aims to prioritize the inclusion of HIV in Black women’s health conversations, normalize sexual health and freedom for Black women and destigmatize HIV by empowering women to know their status and take action to prevent or treat HIV.

 

“HIV does not exist in a vacuum,” Coalition for Justice and Equality Across Movement director Toni Newman said. “We created [the coalition] to build intersectional partnerships that extend HIV conversations and collectively advance policies for communities of color who are most impacted. Designing the ‘F*ck Fear>Be Free’ campaign to include HIV in Black women’s whole-health approach is a perfect extension of the coalition’s goal. We are working with several of our partners to extend the reach of the ‘Fuck Fear>Be Free’ campaign as we launch today.”

 

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To learn more about the campaign, click here. Or learn about becoming an outreach partner by emailing NMAC acting communications director Pavni Guharoy (pguharoy@nmac.org).