More Than Just a Number: Why Our Sexual Health Is Deeply Interconnected 

By Brielle Collins

June 16, 2026

Have you ever heard anyone say, “When you sleep with someone, you sleep with everyone they’ve slept with?” It’s an old phrase used to teach the dangers of sleeping with multiple partners, but what exactly does it mean?  

It’s the idea that when you sleep with someone, you increase your risks of contracting a sexually transmitted infection (STI), as you are being exposed to the sexual diseases of whomever that person had been exposed to in the past.  

That phrase is [read more]

What are the biggest obstacles to black women getting tested for HIV?

By Brielle Collins

June 1, 2026

There are times when the numbers don’t make sense. Since the AIDS/HIV epidemic, U.S. Black people have been disproportionately affected. This statistics is even more concerning when it comes to Black women.

Despite accounting for only 13% of women in the United States, Black women accounted for 60% of new HIV diagnoses among women in 2021 and 50% of the same figure in 2022.  Increasing HIV testing and expanding access to prevention tools like [read more]

Reflecting on Another Successful International Conference on Stigma

February 7, 2026

As the new year begins, it is always a good time to reflect on the positive aspects of the last year. For those working to end stigma, the International Conference on Stigma is an integral part of those efforts.

The 16th Annual International Conference on Stigma was a hybrid conference held from November 18-20, 2025. With two days virtual and one day in-person at Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C., about three hundred people participated [read more]

The Overwhelming Concept of Contraception

By Brielle Collins

January 26, 2026

Entering college, the decision of whether or not to get on birth control loomed over me. There were endless options and, most importantly, pages of seemingly threatening side effects that felt like they would alter my life. Overall, navigating sexual health and wellness as a woman gets unnecessarily complicated, incredibly overwhelming, and completely impossible. 

You don’t want to get pregnant, but sometimes you don’t want to rely solely on a condom. You start weighing your options, scrolling through TikTok, Googling late at night, and talking to friends about the potential side [read more]

Dating Life as a College Student – Episode Three

By: Kamoria Reese

July 9, 2025

In my new audio blog series, I sit down with fellow college students to explore how they navigate the complexities of dating. They candidly share their safety strategies, the challenges they encounter, and what they seek in a partner. Each conversation offers practical advice and concludes with participants describing their dating lives in just three words. Together, these stories provide relatable insights and support for anyone navigating the modern dating landscape.

In this interview, I spoke with Tay, a college sophomore [read more]

Understanding the State of Black Women and HIV in the United States

June 4, 2024

Understanding the connections between Black women and HIV remains important today. Despite advances in treatment and medications, continued conversations and education are still needed as Black women continue to face significant disparities in HIV diagnoses and outcomes in the United States.

According to the CDC, in 2023 19% of those diagnosed with HIV were female. A closer look at the statistics shows a different picture for Black women. They accounted for 50% of HIV diagnoses, but are only 13% of the female U.S. population. They also had [read more]

Could PrEP be the key to Reducing Your HIV Exposure?

September 23, 2025

If you’ve ever wondered if there is another way to protect yourself from contracting HIV besides condoms, there is an option.  PrEP, or Pre-exposure prophylaxis, is a preventive treatment for individuals at high risk of HIV infection, and it’s an option worth exploring. 

Your first question is probably does it work? When PrEP medication is taken consistently, it can not only reduce the risk of contracting HIV from sexual exposure by about 99%, but it can also decrease the likelihood of contracting HIV by [read more]

Understanding the State of Black Women and HIV in the United States

September 11, 2025

Understanding the connections between Black women and HIV remains important today. Despite advances in treatment and medications, continued conversations and education are still needed as Black women continue to face significant disparities in HIV diagnoses and outcomes in the United States.

According to the CDC, in 2023 19% of those diagnosed with HIV were female. A closer look at the statistics shows a different picture for Black women. They accounted for 50% of HIV diagnoses, but are only 13% of the [read more]

When A Relationship Ends…Questions and Worries Begin

By Tia Camille

I grew up in the 1970s, and my world was surrounded by images, stories, movies, television shows and real-life married women. For me, and most children of that time, the way of the world trained us to think marriage was the pinnacle point of love. Without it, you’d question whether you really ever found it.

The problem? No one ever really talked about the part when marriages don’t work like mine. Facing the final proceedings in my divorce in a few weeks means this relationship that lasted more than [read more]

Trust or Mistrust: Sickle Cell Warriors Unraveling Medical Mistrust

Temitope Creppy

Joanne Adelberg, MS

September 1, 2024

Sickle cell disease primarily affects about 100,000 Americans, and greater than 7 million people worldwide.  Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a group of genetic disorders that affect red blood cells, causing them to become shaped like crescents or sickles. The sickle-shaped cells can travel through the bloodstream, getting stuck and cutting off blood flow, leading to intense pain and organ damage. Patients with SCD may experience chronic pain and have learned to manage frequent acute pain crises, leading [read more]

Internalized Stigma & the Environment: Reflections from a Photo Narrative Project

Authors/Contributors: Internalized Stigma Interest Group

May 1, 2024

The Internalized Stigma Interest Group, of the Howard University annual International Conference on Stigma, is a network of people interested in promoting the awareness and reduction of internalized stigmatization of all types of oppression, especially related to stigmatized health conditions such as HIV, mental health challenges, sickle cell, and substance use challenges. We are activists and academics, people with lived experience, researchers, program workers, clinicians, students, and many other things – sometimes within a single individual! Everyone is [read more]

Silent No More: The Perspective of Heterosexual Men Living with HIV

By  Temitope Creppy, Senior, Howard University

January 1, 2024

“I was refused treatment because I refused to say I was homosexual.” These are the words of a 50-year-old African-American man diagnosed with HIV who was wrongly discriminated against and denied medical treatment due to stigma that persists in the healthcare environment. Healthcare professionals doubted his relationship with his wife, and people in his daily life still consider him homosexual because he lives with HIV. Unfortunately, across the country this is the reality of [read more]

Zero HIV Stigma Day

By Kalvin Pugh, IAPAC

July 1, 2023

Stigma is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as: a set of negative and unfair beliefs that a society or group of people have about something. In the more than four decades of the HIV Pandemic, the medical, scientific and communities most impacted by HIV have made incredible strides; moving us from what was once death sentence, to now a manageable chronic condition. That progress has been unequal across race, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status and geographic location due to several factors but one of the primary culprits remains from the earliest days of [read more]

Peer Support

By Positive Sunbeam

April 1, 2023

Since becoming public with my HIV status just this last fall, I find myself in a place of discovery.  What does my life look like without keeping HIV a secret?  How does the vulnerability uncovered become an asset to my gifts sharing in a world in much need of safe vulnerability?  How do I extend to others while not lessening self care of less stimulation and information from social media?  Aging with HIV- what is the best support for my own mental health?

I am grateful to Howard University, Who Can You tell? program, The Well [read more]

Introduction to Internalized Stigma and Our Interest Group

By Emily Petti, Joe DeLuca, & Alicia Lucksted, Internalized Stigma Interest Group Co-Chairs

March 1, 2023

“If you have a stereotype message thrown at you often enough it can start to sink in, like maybe it’s really true about you.  When it isn’t.” 

The many ways that people negatively stereotype, denigrate, and discriminate against each other based on social identities or personal situations is called “societal stigmatization” or just “stigma.”  Whether around HIV, mental health, race, gender, religion, or anything else, the harm done by oppression is hurtful and dangerous.

This harm is compounded by internalized [read more]

Latinos United Against HIV Stigma

By Alberto Bermudez Perez

July 1, 2022

Latinos United Against HIV Stigma is a focused workgroup with the mission of working to get rid of the stigma HIV carries. We strive to eradicate the stigma and discrimination those who don’t understand the disease have through education and involvement. We also work to reduce internalized stigma those with HIV may feel towards themselves. HIV is a human disease that can happen to anyone. Regardless of one’s diagnosis, everyone should be treated equitably without facing the threat of discrimination throughout society. It is important for the Latino community, specifically to come together and work [read more]

Who Can You Tell?

Men of the Howard University PositiveEntrempowerment Workgroup

Message from the PostitiveEntrempowerment Heterosexual Men’s Workgroup

“If you are not at the Table you are on the Menu.” This terminology sounds familiar to many, but what happens when you, ”ARE NOT ON THE MENU.” Heterosexual men are not included in research, prevention, care, vaccine trails, biomedical prevention, when it relates to studies and clinical trials.

Therefore left out of these important strategies of Ending the HIV epidemic, the internal and external stigma permeates further. Many programs are linked to certain modes of transmission, and [read more]

2021 International Conference on Stigma

January 1, 2022

November 15-19, 2021, Virtual Event

The 12th annual Howard University International Conference on Stigma was held as a virtual 5-day event again this year. The event included research plenary sessions, panels, and workshops, a town hall, entertainment, artwork, and a lively international session. The conference had more than 700 registrants. Participants logged in from at least 32 countries and territories!

From our 2021 attendees:

” This conference was amazing as always! I loved the addition of the Hip-Hop session and hope to have more sessions on the influence of pop culture/media related topics on stigma. Would also love [read more]

Say it Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud

By Pastor Sande Bailey-Gwinn

January 1, 2022

February 7 we rally together for National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (#NBHAAD), observed annually on this date to increase awareness, spark conversations, highlight the work to reduce HIV in Black or African American communities in the United States, and show support for people who are living and thriving with HIV in these communities. I tend to ponder on this thought, why do I have to wait until February 7 [read more]