The AIDS Healthcare Foundation in partnership with the Los Angeles County HIV Drug and Alcohol Task force held a festival in MacArthur Park on Thursday. The festival celebrated National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and featured free food, Zumba, and all-female musical performances.
The event aimed to get women tested for HIV and to showcase that HIV doesn't solely affect men, but women as well.
"Now the statistics are showing that women of color are at the highest risk and are getting HIV at the most rapid rates at this time. It's really important for women to know that they have to get tested," said Kelli Dillon of the Aids Healthcare Foundation.
This was the first festival in Los Angeles celebrating National Women and Girls HIV/AIDs Awareness Day. Dozens of vendors surrounded the main stage, vendors that gave visitors free products and information about HIV prevention and healthcare.
Although AIDs still affects more men than women, women still make up 20 percent of all HIV cases, according to the Foundation for AIDs research. For the women who organized the event, encouraging others to get tested was personal.
"I've had personal relationships, romantic relationships, sexual relationships with an HIV-positive person," event organizer Michelle Enfield said. "It really meant a lot to me as an individual to be accepting. It's a non-issue when we are treated."
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Corrected Mar. 11, 11:51 a.m. Pacific Time: An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of MacArthur Park and lacked attribution for a quote.
Annenberg Media