Positively Women's Magazine
Positively Women is published quaterly all stories and articles are written by women living with HIV. The current edition of the magazine is free to anyone living with HIV. To read sample articles please click on the links below.
PW's magazine is designed by Intertype. |
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Winter 2008
"Anti-retroviral drugs have given us our lives back, but have
also been known to cause side-effects and one of them is
lipodystrophy. As we know, once lipodystrophy is established,
it is difficult to reverse. Once this has happened, what does one
do? Here are a few tips on how to dress and work with what
you have and still look stylish...." |
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Autumn 2007
"I believe HIV positive people in the affluent West are still
discriminated against in
the context of being perceived to have a disability or
compromised life span. Discriminated against when it comes
to job opportunities and promotions, for insurance and for
mortgages, for travel and residency, for same sex marriages and
within families..." |
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Summer 2007
"Last week I sat in a clinic with one of my patients and talked
about the future. She is 16 years old, was born with HIV. She is
not currently on treatment, has never been seriously unwell,
is attending college .... She is planning her further education; she is
hoping to get a job with a good salary; she has good friends
and she has a boyfriend..." |
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Spring 2007
"This year I will be 15 years old, which in Positively Women speak,
means that it is 15 long years ago, on Friday 20th June
1992 to be precise, that I learnt that I am HIV positive. That’s
nearly a third of my life now spent living with this bug in my
body..." |
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Winter 2007
"Good sex can be safer, and safer sex can be very good
especially when you know these sexy tips; try them out in your
own sex life and share them in sex education programmes! The
following tips are a wide and varied selection from around the
globe – some you will like and some hate – you can do what
you think is exciting and leave the rest to others!..." |
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Autumn 2006
"I live in a tiny village in the middle of the Peak
District – a village with fewer inhabitants than the
average city street... We have the standard village inhabitants,
the village oddballs, the gossips, the good kids,
the bad kids – in other words nothing abnormal... In
fact, the only thing that’s in any way unusual in the
village is me..." |
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Summer 2006
"Traditional gender roles place men and women in
positions of obvious inequality. This has a great
impact on the way that every man and woman
... how each of
us experiences health and illness... Gender
inequality is a crucial factor in the spread of the
HIV pandemic. It contributes to the vulnerability of
both women and men to HIV." |
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Spring 2006
"Okay, girls hands up if
you’re truly out of the
closet? No, I’m not probing
about any potential lesbian
leanings, but trying to
figure out how many of us
are completely open about
our HIV status ... I have to confess
that I’ve got one leg, arm
and a smidgen of torso
dangling enticingly out of
the closet, whilst the rest
of me remains tightly and
fearfully wedged inside..." |
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Winter 2006
"From December 2005 HIV positive people will be
covered by the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA)
1995. This means that we positive people from the
point they are diagnosed will have greater
protection against discrimination in employment, in
education, in receiving services, and in buying or
renting property....." |
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Autumn 2005
"In 1989, I became pregnant with my second child.
I was three and half months when told I was
positive. I didn’t know what it even meant, I hadn’t
ever heard of HIV so I didn’t really know what was
involved and how serious it was. I gave birth to my
daughter Jill in January 1990...." |
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Summer 2005
"Dancing is one of the best forms of relaxation.
Music, rhythmic drums, bells, chants, flutes, pianos,
guitars, and many combinations of instruments and
voices contribute to our very many ways of relaxing
in this modern day..." |
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Spring 2005
"Most people think human rights are sacred – something everyone has immediately from birth. But
what are human rights? What is it to be human? What
rights should we have? We often refer to human
rights in terms of their abuse rather than as privileges
that we enjoy day-to-day..." |
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Winter 2005
"I consider living long-term with HIV to be an
enormous privilege, and a direct result of the fact
that I am fortunate enough to live in a part of the
world where all my life I have been able to take for
granted the right to a high standard of health care..." |
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Autumn 2004
"I knew about my HIV diagnosis in 1994. I had a
son, a baby who later died. After his diagnosis, I
considered having a test. When I went for the test, I
had already spoken to my family about what I might
need to do afterwards..."
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Summer 2004
"Microbicides (pronounced mikrobisidz) are products
designed to help prevent the sexual transmission of HIV
and other STDs when applied topically (that is to the
vagina or rectum). Microbicides are still being developed
so they are not available for use just yet..." |
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Spring 2004
"I was only 16 when I got Hepatitis B (HBV). I won’t go
into the details of my precocious drug use. However,
this disease gave me an early insight on how precious
the liver is. I spent four weeks in hospital, with a
transaminase count of 1,600, yellow like a lemon..." |
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November/December 2003
"So when I was next at my clinic, I spoke to the
nurse who happened to be about seven months
pregnant – coincidence or conspiracy I wasn’t sure
but was going ahead with the questions anyhow. As
a HIV lesbian wanting to have children the medical
options or care would be the same as for a
heterosexual woman..." |
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September/October 2003
"Eighteen months into my asylum application, I was
granted a work permit. Filled with excitement I
embarked on finding employment. Little did I know
that having permission to work was not the only prerequisite
to getting a job..." |
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July/August 2003
"One of the advantages I thought, of
starting a love affair in your 50s, was not
having to bother with contraception. When
I started a new relationship five years ago
at the age of 51, I assumed, because of
my age, that condoms were a
complication I could do without..." |
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May/June 2003
"When combination therapy came along the
Americans were treating anyone with a CD4 count
below 500. This seemed quite mad to me as I had
been HIV positive for 8 years and had not been ill. I
certainly didn’t feel the need to be a guinea pig for
what was then new and experimental treatment
when there was no medical need..." |
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March/April 2003
"‘What’s your immigration status?’ – this is a
phrase that you always hear when you attend any
support group for positive women. There is no prize
for the guessing the answer – ‘None yet, I’m still
waiting for a decision from the Home Office, what
about you?’..." |
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January/February 2003
"
For people living with HIV, disclosure is
very often synonymous with fear, rejection,
uncertainty … you name it! Basically the
associations are with negative feelings
and reactions..." |
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November/December 2002
"There was part of me that
wanted to leave PW quietly and
anonymously, but a few things
happened to make me change
my mind. One was that this
edition of the newsletter
happened to be titled ‘Looking
towards the future’..." |
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September/Ocotber 2002
"Then came the fateful day, I was
on the phone to a friend and he
got angry. He took the phone,
hung it up and threw it at me. I
was furious – at my wits end. I
told him I didn’t want to
continue with the marriage any
longer. I wanted out..." |
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May/June 2002
"I was diagnosed HIV positive in 1992, and
sentenced to two years and eight months in
prison in May 2001. I didn’t expect it to be
fun. But I also didn’t expect it to make me ill..." |
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March/April 2002
"Sexual expression, regardless of your age, sexuality, status or
size is a fundamental right for all women. It’s your right to
choose when, why and whether you have sex. With a partner,
or on your own, here we examine ways to make it fun..." |
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January/February 2002
"Yes, I know it’s a corny title
but I’m writing from the
heart, about HAART. First of
all let me say that this is my
account of my experience. I
wanted to be honest about
the choices I have made and
the reasons for making them,
but we are all individuals
and what may or may not
work for me could be
different for you..." |
