Community Mobilization to Promote and Protect the Sexual and Reproductive Rights of Women Living with HIV in Latin America

Between 2009 and 2014, the International Community of Women Living with HIV in Latin America and the Mexican feminist civil society organization Balance coordinated a five-country community-led intervention that brought together women living with HIV (WLHIV), trans women, sex workers, and feminist lawyers to document and respond to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) violations of WLHIV and advocate for legal, policy, and programmatic changes to fulfill SRHR. The experiences of involved community leaders (n=26) indicate that knowledge of national, regional, and international human rights commitments and up-to-date medical information positively influenced personal health behaviors, empowered WLHIV as subject matter experts, and emboldened them to hold duty-bearers to account. The research evidence generated through collective action was critical for legitimating SRHR violations of WLHIV with decision-makers and for positioning the issue in the advocacy agendas of national and regional HIV and women’s movements. Collective action contributed to social cohesion among diverse groups of women living with and affected by HIV and increased available technical, financial, and organizational resources and political opportunities by linking organizations and networks. Collectively, community leaders mobilized to influence policy, legal frameworks, and service delivery to promote and protect the SRHR of WLHIV.