ATHENA at the Toronto AIDS Conference

More follow-up from Toronto!

• A summary report about the Women's Networking Zone
• Summaries of sessions at the Women's Networking Zone
• Full report on ATHENA in Toronto
• Photos of ATHENA in Toronto
• Materials from the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law skills-building workshop series on Women, HIV/AIDS and Human Rights
  
  Presentations by participants in the "Claiming Rights for Women in HIV/AIDS" session organized by ATHENA in Toronto are available here:
  
• Session summary, by Tyler Crone
• Chilean women living with HIV/AIDS. Sexual and reproductive rights? by Sara Araya L, Vivo Positivo
• Second on the needle: two-level strategy for claiming the rights of women who use drugs, by Joanne Csete, Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network
• Law reform and land rights in Tanzania, by Elizabeth Maro Minde
• Raising Our Voice: HIV positive women shape the future, by Promise Mthembu

ICW and ATHENA, with assistance from CHANGE, organized a press conference on the need for HIV testing and counseling to be based on respect for individuals' human rights. A number of articles about the press conference can be accessed through this website: http://www.eginitiative.org/.




Tyler Crone ATHENA Network coordinator published a guide to women- and gender-related sessions at the conference, a flyer on ATHENA sessions and contributed to the Women’s Networking Zone guide as well.

An attractive flyer explained ATHENA’s mission and how people can join. A bright yellow flyer attracted up to 80 people at the ATHENA reception on the last full day of the conference.













ATHENA worked with the Blueprint Action for Women & Girls Coalition to produce great T-shirts for the Women’s March and rally















CHANGE facilitated the participation of US Congresswoman Barbara Lee in the Women’s Rally. Stephen Lewis (Kofi Annan’s special UN envoy, second from left) also spoke as did representatives of HIV-positive women, sex workers and Conference co-chair Helene Gayle (second from right)

ICW chairwoman, MariJo Vázquez from Spain, Arely Cano (ICW Nicaragua) and Alejandra Scampini (ActionAid, Uruguay) participated in the ICW and ATHENA satellite session on Gender-based violence and HIV: making the connection











ATHENA members joined Ipas in offering a workshop entitled HIV, sexual & reproductive rights: understanding and claiming rights. Workshop coordinator Maria de Bruyn (Ipas) was joined by Tyler Crone (ATHENA coordinator), Jeni Gatsi and Shimaneka Shiiga (ICW, Namibia) and Edwina Pereira (INSA India) in facilitating. Here Edwina encourages a workshop participant in one of the games played during the interactive and highly participatory workshop.













Tyler Crone addressing people who attended ATHENA’s reception










To read more about the conference visit these websites:
http://www.acpd.ca/acpd.cfm/en/section/Home
http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/category/sti-hiv-aids-prevention (includes some blogs by Maria de Bruyn)
http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/aids2006.htm
http://www.crlp.org/worldwide.html

A listing of the events in which ATHENA and ATHENA members were involved at the XVI International AIDS Conference can be seen here.