BABES Network

The BABES Network is a women-centred environment that aims to provide opportunities for women living with HIV to come together for mutual support. It provides:

• Peer Counselling - one-on-one support from another HIV+ woman who has faced some of the same obstacles.
• Support Groups - a regular opportunity for positive women to share about issues of importance to them.
• Informal Gatherings - food, fun, and conversation in a comfortable, relaxed environment.
• Advocacy - HIV+ women providing technical assistance and leadership to help community agencies better serve the complex needs of women and families.
• Self-Advocacy Training - HIV+ women experienced in dealing with social and health systems, teaching each other how to advocate for themselves.
• BABES Talking - a monthly publication that aims to share information, publicise events, and create a forum for the voices of women with HIV/AIDS to be heard.
• Educational Forums - focusing on topics of interest to BABES members including new treatments, family issues, alternative therapies, relaxation, and many others.
• Retreats - offering an opportunity for HIV+ women to take time away from their busy lives and share support, information, and fun in a quiet, supportive setting.

The BABES website also provides information about upcoming events, local resources, and information about services.

HIV/AIDS, Women

BABES began with a group of 13 women with HIV who met in one woman's home for a potluck dinner in 1989. In coming together, they found that, although they were different in many ways, they shared common experiences related to HIV and the care they received. They discovered that the issues they faced, such as domestic violence, fear of losing custody of children, the need for childcare, medical care by providers who understood women's needs, and dual or multiple diagnoses, to name a few - were never addressed in the AIDS service system. They began calling themselves "BABES with AIDS". They felt that this name was a way to acknowledge their difference from men living with this disease and to make it clear that they were not going to lose their sense of humour.