SisterLove: Advocating for Women's Reproductive Rights in Atlanta and Beyond

For more than 20 years SisterLove, Inc., has shown feminine affection to Atlanta's women of color. Founded in 1989 by visionary CEO and activist Dázon Dixon Diallo, SisterLove strives to eliminate the negative impact that HIV/AIDS and other reproductive-health challenges have on women's lives.

"SisterLove is broken down into four components: health, education, advocacy and prevention," says Shanebrae Price, an HIV-prevention and outreach specialist and advocacy coordinator. "We are passionate about women's health and women's reproductive rights."

And that's a good thing. Because according to the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta, African American women account for 87 percent of women with AIDS in that city. Of the almost 1,900 Black Atlanta women living with HIV in 2007, 1,005 (53 percent) said they didn't know how they had become infected, 553 (28 percent) said they had engaged in unprotected heterosexual sex and 313 (17 percent) said they had injected drugs, City Sheets (pdf) reports.

No matter a woman's risk factors, SisterLove takes a creative approach to helping her protect herself. Its Healthy Love Program offers hands-on support and prevention interventions within the comfort of intimate settings. Healthy Love Parties, which Price calls "one of SisterLove's largest outreach programs," engages participants in risk-assessment activities, condom demonstrations, games requiring the players to identify synonyms for male and female sex organs and other fun exercises that emphasize prevention. Attendees also receive step-by-step explanations about how HIV/AIDS and other STDs are transmitted. But while the subject matter is serious, the workshops--which can include men--are "fun, innovative and interactive," Price emphasizes. "We like to call them homegrown interventions."

SisterLove also reaches out to Atlanta's adolescents and young adults, helping them avoid and get tested for sexually transmitted infections--from HIV to chlamydia to gonorrhea. In ddition, the organization trains youth activists to increase HIV/AIDS awareness among their peers. Next up? A project that rallies young folks to mobilize to end the epidemic.

Understanding that HIV/AIDS doesn't respect borders and that structural conditions such as poverty fuel the pandemic among Black people of all nationalities, SisterLove also works overseas, and it has established the Thembuhelo HIV/AIDS Capacity Building Project and the Women's HIV/AIDS Resources Project, both in South Africa. These organizations enhance local health organizations' prevention efforts, ensure that women are educated about their health, provide training and technical assistance to AIDS activists and ultimately help women gain economic and health independence. Whether or not they are HIV/AIDS positive, participants develop the confidence to advocate for themselves.

At the end of Price's workday, SisterLove's mission leaves her feeling stronger. "SisterLove has helped me not only to be an advocate for women's rights but to really stand up for things that I believe in. It's way more than just a job for me. SisterLove has afforded me the skills to be an active believer."

If you are interested in volunteering with SisterLove to advocate for the reproductive rights of women of color, visit its website.

Lakin Starling attends Spelman College in Atlanta.