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For the last five years, Precious
Jackson has worked with the Los Angeles-based Center for Health Justice to
educate women whose male partners are in prison or have a history of
incarceration on how to protect themselves from HIV. The program, called
Project HOME, or Healthy Options Means Empowerment, also teaches women how to
become peer educators.
Jackson said she found out she was
HIV-positive in 1998 after then-boyfriend, who was incarcerated, notified her
he was infected. Over the last three years, Jackson has helped 307 women
through the program, many of whom are African-American like herself and at high
risk for HIV.
According to Jackson, self-esteem is
a key tool in HIV prevention. “If a woman is not emotionally balanced, then she
would find herself making unhealthy choices which will increase her risk for
acquiring HIV,” she said.
Prisons and jails can be described
as a revolving door between the criminal justice system and the community,
according to UCLA Professor William Cunningham, and resuming relationships is a
high priority for those released. “High-risk sexual activity along with
substance use is a volatile combination that increases the risk of transmission
to the community.”
Jackson encourages women to ask
their incarcerated partners to get tested and mail the results home, or get
tested with them post-release. She added that a woman should “feel
disrespected” if a man does not use a condom.
Jackson also speaks about HIV at
black churches and runs her church’s annual health fair, which includes an HIV
testing van. “The more we have people talking about HIV, whether it’s in the
church house or on the street, the better it will become normalized,” she said.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
