Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • #ArewaMeToo and the Centre Giving Sexual Abuse Survivors a Voice in Niger State

    Raising awareness about sexual abuse helps create space for the support and healing of victims. Using the #ArewaMeToo campaign as a platform, women in Nigeria are drawing attention to the shortcomings of Nigeria’s sexual offenses law. Sexual abuse is pervasive, but social pressure or the fear of dishonoring families often leads to silence. Organizations like the Rayuwa Sexual Assault Referral Centre (RSARC) are also raising awareness and providing support to victims of sexual abuse in Niger State. RSARC provides counseling, medical examinations, and ongoing support to survivors of abuse.

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  • Banned: 'We are doing the president's work: cleansing the community of gays”

    The Access to Health and Rights Development Initiative (AHRDI) in Lagos, Nigeria has offered health services to over 2,000 LGBTI men since 2013 despite the nation's widespread homophobia. Because it is still dangerous to identify as or ally with homosexuality following the 2014 passage of the Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act, all AHRDI's clients come from word-of-mouth referrals to receive condoms, lube, HIV testing, and more.

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  • To tackle addiction, the French look beyond drugs to care for the person

    Designated harm reduction centers can reduce overdoses and infections among those suffering from addiction. Facilities that operate as safe spaces can also offer resources such as treatment or housing, such as at the Planterose DropIn Center in Bordeaux and the SOS SleepIn Center in Paris. The strategy of helping addicts first use safely, and then rebuild social connections, has helped France to reduce its rate of HIV infection.

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  • The streets weren't safe for drug users. So these countries created spaces for them.

    Despite hesitance and not complete buy-in, European countries are seeing signs of success from implementing drug consumption rooms. While the United States has been hesitant to adopt this tactic as a solution for fear of normalization of drug use, countries with these facilities are reporting less “injection-related litter in public spaces,” increased public awareness, less stigma, and fewer overdoses.

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  • Switzerland fights heroin with heroin

    Drug-assisted treatment has reduced rates of new substance abuse cases and HIV infections in Switzerland. With the implementation of an innovative drug policy program in 1994, Swiss doctors began to treat those suffering with chronic substance abuse with heroin-assisted treatment (HAT). The program benefitted from positive results in early trials and has encouraged the implementation of similar programs in other countries.

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  • Switzerland couldn't stop drug users. So it started supporting them.

    By prioritizing treatment over law enforcement, Switzerland dramatically reduced its drug problem. In 1994, the country adopted a progressive policy to treat heroin addiction as a public health crisis, focusing on harm reduction, treatment, and prevention in addition to traditional law enforcement. The policy, which embraces medicated-assisted treatment and universal access to services, helped greatly reduce issues such as the incidence of HIV, drug overdoses, and deaths over the long-term.

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  • Sharps Kits, Syringes and Solidarity

    Many health care facilities that supply needles don't have the proper training or experience to work with trans-identified people that are undergoing hormone therapy. To help address this gap in care, an education and advocacy nonprofit in Eugene, Oregon acts as a hub for the community's clean needle exchange needs.

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  • The Houses That Help Keep HIV at Bay

    The Belle Reve House in Louisiana houses and treats low-income and homeless people living with AIDS. The house offers wraparound services and works to keep the virus at almost undetectable levels. Residents are less likely to spread the virus when living at Belle Reve, which is crucial in New Orleans, where the transmission rate is among the highest in the country.

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  • These Kenyan widows are fighting against sexual 'cleansing'

    In Kenya, and in other parts of Africa, widows are considered impure until a male has sex with them and cleanses them. If they don’t get cleansed they face social stigma. However, one widow, Roseline Orwa, refused, and instead created the Rona Foundation. “The center provides loss and grief counseling, financial support and teaches entrepreneurial skills.” She also successfully lobbied for a bill that outlawed widow cleansing. However, even though the practice is still prevalent in rural parts of Kenya, both men and women are talking about ending the practice through talk sessions offered by the center. “A

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  • Mothers lead children HIV transmission fight in Kisii and Homa Bay

    A mentorship program in Kenya has proven effective at slashing rates of HIV transmission to infants and reducing stigma surrounding the illness. Mentor mothers offer support and education to HIV-positive pregnant women to ensure they stay on anti-retro viral drugs to avoid passing the virus to their unborn children and they work with them through the first 18 months of a child's life. Similar programs in other African countries have reached an estimated 1.4 million HIV-positive women.

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