Beautiful Inside And Out
|
CHANGE AGENT: After Sherita graduated from the Beauty in Knowing program, she achieved her long-time goal of obtaining her GED and became certified to perform medical HIV-Antibody Testing.
|
|
CHANGE AGENT: After Sherita graduated from the Beauty in Knowing program, she achieved her long-time goal of obtaining her GED and became certified to perform medical HIV-Antibody Testing.
|
CHANGE AGENT: After Sherita graduated from the Beauty in Knowing program, she achieved her long-time goal of obtaining her GED and became certified to perform medical HIV-Antibody Testing.
World AIDS Day is on Saturday, December 1, 2012.
In a letter she wrote to herself, a young cosmetology student declared, “You are a wonderful person, and with that, you have the right to only be in a relationship with one who will treat you as such.”
In just five sessions, AIDS Alabama’s program, Beauty in Knowing, had transformed the student and her fellow participants – all aspiring hair stylists and African-American women of Jefferson County, Alabama, – into trustworthy advocates for hair and health.
Stemming A Rising Alabama Tide
In Alabama, there were more than 17,000 reported cases of HIV at the end of 2011, and while its African-American citizens represent only 26 percent of the state’s population, they represent 64 percent of Alabama’s cases.
In addition to biological susceptibility, the negative effects of poverty, sexually transmitted infections, drug addition and domestic violence exacerbate risk for women. Lack of education and access to health information and services are also problematic.
The CDC estimates indicate that black women are more vulnerable to HIV than other groups. While heterosexual women account for an estimated one-quarter of new HIV cases in the U.S., black women account for approximately two-thirds of these infections.
Beautiful Inside and Out
Local hair salons are often lively venues of social engagement in African-American communities.
“We’ve found that a significant number of African-American women in our community will visit their hair salon every week, but never see a doctor,” says Dafina Ward of AIDS Alabama. “Many mistrust doctors, but completely trust and rely on their hair stylist.”
With that in mind, AIDS Alabama created Beauty in Knowing to empower stylists-in-training to see themselves as sources of accurate information for their clients. The program is designed for African-American women ages 18 to 45 and enhances their cosmetology training with interactive sessions about HIV prevention topics, including anatomy, sexually transmitted infections, stigma, assertive communication, cultural pride and self-respect.
Change Agents and Changing Behavior
Beauty in Knowing is part of the GENERATIONS program, a partnership between AIDS United and Johnson & Johnson that supports evidence-based HIV prevention for communities of women and girls. AIDS United links GENERATIONS programs to HIV prevention scientists, a technical assistance team and local evaluators to help the organizations best serve at-risk women in their communities.
By the summer of 2012, more than 200 future stylists will have benefited from Beauty in Knowing.
“We are creating change agents,” Ward adds. “Our alumni report that more of their clients are talking to them about unfaithful spouses, sexual decision-making and knowing their partners’ HIV status. These women are transforming their communities and their own lives.”
Learn more:
Our Work in HIV
AIDS Alabama
AIDS United