This post originally appeared on The Well Project

On March 21-24, 2024, The Women’s Research Initiative on HIV/AIDS (WRI), a program of The Well Project, convened a meeting focused on The Role of Policy in Access to HIV Research and Services Among Women Living with and Vulnerable to HIV. The meeting sought to examine the ways that law and policy affect health outcomes for women living with and vulnerable to HIV.

The Well Project and the WRI use the term “women” to describe anyone who identifies as such across the gender spectrum.

While HIV research and service provision in the US have always been affected by the policy environment, recent legal and policy changes are poised to have a particularly negative impact on women living with and vulnerable to HIV. This year’s WRI convening brought together 35 multidisciplinary, multisectoral key stakeholders (see below) to address critical aspects and potential implications for women living with and vulnerable to HIV of laws and policies related to HIV criminalization; abortion; gender-affirming care; and affirmative action/diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programming – and to make recommendations for mitigating their injurious effects. To learn more, please see the WRI 2024 Issue Brief: Implications of Federal and State Policy on HIV Research and Services for Women Living with and Vulnerable to HIV. Click here to view more photos from WRI 2024.

“Every one of these issues is rooted in surveillance and control, limiting who gets to decide what happens to their body and what options they have for their future.”

– Tiommi Luckett, Transgender Law Center

The combined impact of HIV criminalization, abortion restrictions, bans on gender-affirming care, and the elimination of affirmative action/DEI programming will have profound consequences for access to HIV and sexual and reproductive healthcare services and HIV research among women living with and vulnerable to HIV across the gender spectrum. They will also limit the ability of providers and scientists to conduct programming and research to advance the field. As many of these policies are already in effect, it is crucial to raise awareness about their potential implications and undertake collaborative efforts to mitigate their negative effects and optimize HIV research and care.

WRI 2024 Meeting Participants

Allison Agwu, MD, ScM
Johns Hopkins University		 Nancie Archin, PhD*
University of North Carolina
Judith Auerbach, PhD*
University of California San Francisco		 Dawn Averitt*
The Well Project and WRI
Jacqueline Ayers, JD
Planned Parenthood		 Kellan Baker, PhD, MPH, MA
Whitman Walker
Cecilia Chung
Transgender Law Center		 Jenna Conley
The Well Project
Lindsey Dawson, MPP
KFF		 Karine Dubé, DrPH
UCSD School of Medicine
Nada Fadul, MD
University of Nebraska Medical Center		 Olivia G. Ford
The Well Project
Waru Gichane, PhD, MSPH
University of California San Francisco		 Kaye Hayes, MPA
Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy
Connie Johnson, MA
Growing into Greatness		 Jennifer Kates, PhD*
Kaiser Family Foundation
Kamaria Laffrey
The Sero Project		 Aryah Lester
Transgender Strategy Center
Tiommi Luckett, AA
Transgender Law Center		 Leslie Marshall
NIH Office of AIDS Research
Krista Martel
The Well Project		 Marnina Miller, AA
PWN-USA
Shani Mandisa Moore-O’Neal, JD
Center for HIV Law and Policy		 Amaya Perez-Brumer, PhD
University of Toronto
Bridgette Picou, LVN
The Well Project		 Tonia Poteat, PhD, MPH, PA-C
University of North Carolina
Catalina Ramirez, MPH, MHA
Universty of North Carolina at Chapel Hill		 Laramie Smith, PhD
University of California San Diego
Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH
Harvard Kennedy School		 Celeste Watkins-Hayes
University of Michigan
Andrea Weddle, MSW*
HIV Medicine Association		 Helen Zimba, BS
The Afiya Center

*2024 WRI Advisory Board Member

The WRI 2024 convening received sponsorship support or grants from Gilead, Merck, and ViiV Healthcare.

The Well Project is a non-profit organization whose mission is to change the course of the HIV/AIDS pandemic through a unique and comprehensive focus on women and girls across the gender spectrum. Visit their website, https://www.thewellproject.org/, to access fact sheets (English and Spanish), blogs, and advocacy tools, and to join a global community of women living with HIV.