About Us
Who are we?
The Black Women’s Visions Project began as a research project designed to understand what Black women living with HIV in Ontario want, need and recommend for a virtual health space that speaks to the intersections of being Black, a woman, living with HIV and navigating Western spaces.
The BWV Project is now a regional not-for-profit project working with The AIDS Network (Hamilton), Women’s Health in Women’s Hands (Toronto), and Positive Living Niagara (St. Catherines).
The BWV Project recognizes the need for integrated care where Black women and femmes living with HIV are involved in solutions, tools, events and processes for change. The Project continues to collaborate with those with lived experience.
What is our mission?
Our mission is to build a collaborative virtual space for Black women to access information, community and advocacy tools. This site shares information related to (HIV) health, healthcare, social issues and self-advocacy through text, toolkits, videos and articles, and has a virtual space for women to connect with other Black women to discuss, network and create community.
To involve Black women living with HIV in the process of building and sharing knowledge through consultations, a Community Advisory Committee (CAC) and ongoing community engagement with women interested in participating.
What is women-centred HIV care and why is it important?
Developed through the CHIWOS study, Women-Centred HIV Care is a model of integrated care that speaks to the care women living with HIV should receive. It includes components such as trauma- and violence-aware care, and peer support, leadership and capacity building.
How has BWV integrated Women-Centred HIV Care?
We are dedicated to:
✓ Being inclusive of those who identify as women (cis, trans, femmes alike)
✓ Being inclusive of African, Caribbean, Black (ACB) women
✓ Involving women living with HIV in initiatives around HIV
✓ Focusing on HIV treatment and prevention efforts relevant to Black women
✓ Focusing on women at-risk for or living with HIV
✓ Highlighting anti-Black racism and its presence in health and health care spaces for Black women
✓ Understanding that the current HIV care and treatment model neglects the needs of Black women
✓ Understanding that Black women have specific needs, but not a homogenous group that can be treated the same
What are our objectives?
Knowledge Translation: We want to facilitate reliable information sharing and knowledge translation about health and social issues of importance to Black women living with HIV.
Virtual & Online community: We hope to strengthen virtual and online community connections and peer support channels in the Ontario HIV sector.
Empowerment Opportunities: We are creating capacity building and empowerment opportunities for Black women living with HIV related to knowledge translation, program development and evaluation, and virtual/online supports.
Self-Advocacy: We want to enhance the self-advocacy and healthcare navigation knowledge and skills of Black women living with HIV in the GHTNA.
