Above: The benefit will support Truth AIDS’ efforts in raising
awareness about HIV/AIDS and domestic violence in Ethiopia.
Tadias Magazine
Events News
Published: Wednesday, Februray 23, 2011
New York (Tadias) – The 2011 TruthAIDS Benefit will be held on February 24th at The Box in New York. According to the organizers, proceeds from the benefit will be used to support TruthAIDS’ efforts in raising awareness about HIV and domestic violence in Ethiopia. All donations are 100% tax-deductible.
The non-profit organization — founded by Dr. Mehret Mandefro, a Primary Care Physician and HIV prevention researcher — raises awareness about HIV transmission in the hardest hit communities in urban America and sub-Saharan Africa and trains peer educators to help get people HIV tested in their communities.
TruthAIDS’ web site promotes the view that HIV prevention must go hand in hand with violence prevention in order to be effective. “Widespread sexual and domestic violence robs many women of control over their bodies and is widely prevalent. For these women, negotiating condom use risks the threat of violence.”
Did you know, for example, that “globally, more than four-fifths of new HIV infections in women result from sex with a husband or primary partner?”
According to research data compiled by the organization from various sources: “In Sub-Saharan Africa, 57% of adults with HIV are women, and young women aged 15 to 24 are more than three times as likely to be infected as young men.” The story of gender gap in the United States is not much diffrent either: “Most women with AIDS were diagnosed between the ages of 25 and 44 (71%), indicating that many were likely infected at a relatively young age.” And “Women of color are disproportionately affected by the epidemic: African American and Hispanic women together represented about 24% of all US women, yet they account for 80% of HIV/AIDS diagnoses reported in 2005, with African American women making up 66% of the total alone.”
TruthAIDS aims to reverse these numbers by empowering disadvantaged communities through educational projects, such as the documentary Oblivion – a film based on a true story about a girl who refused to get married. The narrative takes place in Ethiopia and will be in production this year. And as part of the group’s communication strategy Dr. Mehret Mandefro filmed a Truth Circle on the connections between violence against women and HIV/AIDS at the 2008 United States Conference on AIDS. (See video below).
If you Go:
Doors open at 8:00PM. Program includes an auction and box show. To buy tickets and learn more about TruthAIDS go to www.truthaids.org.
THURSDAY || FEBRUARY 24 || 2011 || 8:00-11:00PM
@ THE BOX 189 CHRYSTIE STREET
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
8:00PM Cocktails and Hors D’Oeurves
9:00PM Auction
9:30PM Entertainment
$200/Person
Cover image: counselorcrooms.com
Video: 2008 United States Conference on AIDS