CAS Invitation to join a Community Advisory Board on The Young Women’s HIV Prevention Initiative

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The Canadian AIDS Society is in the process of seeking people to join a community advisory board which will help develop some HIV prevention tools for young women. Our ideal community advisory committee would be comprised of young women from diverse backgrounds, including (but not limited to) HIV+ women, trans women, intravenous drug users, incarcerated women, and women working in the sex trade. All interested young women are encouraged to apply. We also invite applications from people who work directly with young women.

The Community Advisory Committee will help design and guide the development of a set of HIV prevention tools. The purpose of these tools is to provide young women with short, useful, straightforward, sex – positive information about HIV and how to prevent it. The Community Advisory Committee will collectively determine which tools and approaches would effectively reach and influence young women. They will oversee the development of these tools, and play a significant role in their dissemination. The project will be completed by March 31, 2014.

Overall, the age distribution of positive HIV infections differs significantly between males and females, with females generally being diagnosed at a younger age (HIV and AIDS in Canada, Surveillance Report to December 31, 2011, PHAC 2012). Young women, particularly those younger than 24, appear to be much more vulnerable to HIV than either r older women or young men. This increased vulnerability is due to a combination of biological and social factors. Young women have complex needs and challenges when it comes to preventing HIV.

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