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Positively Safe: Addressing the Intersection of Domestic Violence & HIV/AIDS

National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) Training for Domestic Violence & HIV/AIDS Service Providers

Developed in 2010, the Positively Safe project addresses the intersection of HIV/AIDS and domestic violence. Together with the National Domestic Violence & HIV/AIDS Advisory Committee, NNEDV developed a curriculum to train service providers in both fields. The curriculum has a large focus on building partnerships to address the intersection and prevent HIV and domestic violence.

NNEDV’s Positively Safe project proposes to systematically address the unique challenges and barriers facing victims and survivors of domestic violence living with HIV/AIDS by:

  • Partnering and collaborating with national, state, and local HIV/AIDS and domestic violence organizations to explore the intersection of domestic violence and HIV/AIDS;
  • Providing technical assistance and training opportunities to both domestic violence and HIV/AIDS service providers to share best practices, lessons learned, and model programs that address HIV/AIDS and domestic violence; and
  • Developing and disseminating critical resources to both fields on the co-occurrence of HIV/AIDS and domestic violence, including strategies to best address challenges and barriers when both are present in the lives of individuals.

Since its inception, NNEDV has trained 35 of the 56 state and territorial coalitions on the intersection at five national trainings-of-trainers. NNEDV and the Advisory Committee have also had the privilege of presenting our work at a number of international, national, and state conferences.

If you’re interested in receiving training on the intersection of domestic violence and HIV, please contact us.

What You Should Know about HIV/AIDS and Domestic Violence

  • Evidence suggests that sexual and other forms of abuse against women and girls – whether at the hands of intimate partners or strangers – increase their chances of acquiring HIV.
  • One-quarter to one-half of abused women have experienced forced sex.
  • Women who were abused by their partners were more likely to acquire HIV than women in non-violent relationships.
  • 24% of the female patients in one study experienced physical abuse after disclosing their HIV status and 45% feared such a reaction.
  • Women who have a history of both sexual and physical abuse by intimate partners are 2.7 times more likely to worry about acquiring HIV.

NNEDV is grateful to Gilead Sciences, Inc. and ViiV Healthcare for their Positively Safe support and partnership.