For many in the LGBTQ* community, the “Tea Dance” may not be something that is well known in the modern world of circuit parties, LGBTQ* night clubs and private dance parties. From resorts to cruise …
June 2 is International Sex Workers’ Day
June 2 is International Sex Workers’ Day. In 1975, hundreds of sex workers gathered in Lyon, France, to protest their increasingly unsafe working conditions and the violence they were experiencing. Now, in 2017, more than …
March 3rd is International Sex Worker Rights Day
The day originated in 2001, when over 25,000 sex workers gathered in India for a sex worker festival, despite efforts from prohibitionist groups who tried to prevent it taking place by pressuring the government to …
December 17 is International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. Read Some of Their Stories
! This article contains graphical depictions of violence and potentially traumatic subject matter In Calgary, it is estimated that there are 1000-3000 sex workers, and less than 10% of the sex work occurs on the …
On a Friday Outreach
It’s Friday, 1pm, and the Positive Living lunch for our clients is just getting started downstairs, in the drop-in space. It’s pretty crowded today, and I’m waiting for Waylon and Chelsea to finish their conversations …
Medicine Hat HIV Community Link is Here for You
The Medicine Hat branch of HIV Community Link is well known as the Medicine Hat Cares Centre. The primary focus of our Medicine Hat location is our harm reduction services that include a needle exchange program. In …
Naloxone and Overdose Prevention
In the face of the fentanyl crisis in Alberta, naloxone is a new weapon to fight back. Naloxone is an opioid antagonist; this means that it blocks opioid receptors. Naloxone has no potential for misuse. Naloxone only works on opioids, meaning that if a person is not taking any opioids and gets injected with naloxone, nothing will happen.
What You Need to Know…
At HIV Community Link we are committed to staying up-to-date on the latest and greatest information and trends affecting our work and the communities we serve. One way we do this is through our new series: What You Need to Know. The first four topics in this series are based on the most common and frequently asked questions we receive in-person, online, by phone, email and social media. Get in touch with all your questions – we’re the LINK!
Human Trafficking: A Sex Worker Rights & Harm Reduction Narrative
At Shift, we don’t spend a whole lot of time talking about human trafficking.
In 2014, we provided ongoing support and case management to 125 registered program clients; only a handful of these individuals had experienced trafficking. In the 8 year history of Shift, people experiencing human trafficking and other forms of sexual exploitation have remained a small minority of the individuals we support.
2 Months or a Year – HCV Treatment Improvements
New direct-acting Antivirals are changing chronic Hepatitis C treatment for the better. Hepatitis C (HCV) treatment has gone from a once exhausting 48 weeks duration to as a little as 8 weeks with a 95% sustained virologic response (SVR). SVR is defined as a viremia (the presence of viruses in the blood) 24 weeks after completion of antiviral therapy for chronic HCV infection (. In analyses of SVR durability, the incidence of late relapse is extremely low, less than 1%.