Words by Smiley Team
People with HIV face some of the worst kinds of stigma in different parts of the world. To stand up to this takes great bravery – a quality that Honduran campaigner, Keren Dunaway, has in heap loads.
Since the age of eight, Keren has stood up against the stigma and discrimination faced by women with HIV in her community.
Along with a group of other children and adolescents, she launched the first edition of Llavecitas Magazine, a publication for young people living with HIV in Honduras.
Women’s issues are of particular concern to her and she’s spent much time considering the disproportionate challenges they face.
“Throughout my life, I have witnessed injustices that affect women’s sexuality and our right to choose,” she told social justice organisation Hivos. “They all revolve around women’s lack of autonomy and enabling circumstances to make decisions about our bodies and our sexuality.”
For Keren, it’s vital to educate the population about women’s experiences of having HIV – an issue that people don’t see otherwise. “Despite the fact that young women represent about 41% of those living with HIV in Latin America, their plight and the barriers they face aren’t visible,” she explained.
[Read about other influential people working towards gender equality around the world]
To make the problem worse, women with HIV do not gain sufficient attention from policymakers. “Our ability to participate in designing, implementing and monitoring public policies and programs is limited because we aren’t recognized as a key population, and our specific needs aren’t a priority for the government,” she said.
Later, Keren started work for an organisation called LLAVESS, which campaigns for HIV prevention and advocacy.
She believes strongly in the potential of quality sex education to resolve community health challenges, saying: “The deficiencies in the education system mean that adolescent girls and young women don’t recognize their reproductive health as a human right.
“This prevents them from accessing basic health services and the means to prevent unwanted pregnancies and protect themselves from sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.”
Find more stories of incredible women tackling gender-based violence via youth organisation Restless Development.
To help more young leaders like Keren create a better world donate to restlessdevelopment.org/donate.
