As a woman with HIV, Valerie Nicholson says she fears for others suffering with the affliction who do not have the supports she was once lucky to have.
Nicholson, who lives in British Columbia, used to be a member of the Positive Women’s Network – one of the only HIV/AIDS community organizations solely dedicated to the delivery of support services for women in Canada.
In 2017, the organization closed its doors after the federal government made a change in its funding model – a change that impacted 40 total organizationsacross the country.
Nicholson said she believes she would be dead if she did not have the Positive Women’s Network, which helped her battle her drug addiction and learn how to live with her condition.
Through her advocacy work for other women, Nicholson has seen how federal funding cuts have resulted in less flexibility for organizations to offer specific supports for HIV-positive women.
“Women need a space where they feel welcome and where they know they won’t be judged or bullied,” she said. “For many who don’t have access to these safe spaces, it’s easier for them to give up and a lot of women just do that.”