Abbey Marr is a member of Advocates for Youth's International Youth Leadership Council which advocates for better U.S. policies on global HIV and AIDS and international family planning. She is rising senior at the George Washington University studying political science and women's studies. She is also involved with the GWU chapter of Vox, Planned Parenthood's campus outreach organization. She studied in Mombasa, Kenya through the School for International Training and undertook an independent study on gender and religion in the 2007 election.
We no longer have a non-receptive administration as an excuse to make change on HIV policy. It is no longer acceptable (was it ever?) to play it safe for fear of getting attacked on issues such as access to condoms or needle exchange.
Sixty-seven countries have some sort of travel restriction for people living with HIV or AIDS. Among these, 13 countries do not allow HIV positive people to enter their countries. The United States is one of these countries.
If we stand for basic human rights, we should stand for the rights of those living with HIV and AIDS, not because we hope they will have fewer children, but because they also deserve sexual and reproductive health and justice.
Male circumcision can be an important tool in the fight against HIV and AIDS, but the panel I attended today only confirmed my fears over the way it will be used.
Young people account for 40 percent of new HIV infections around the world, yet most of the policy surrounding prevention of the disease ignores youth.
