The origins of the “In my bag” campaign

“In my bag” is the result of a reflective process carried out by the Women’s Committee of COCQ-SIDA, the Quebec coalition of community based HIV/AIDS organizations. This coalition brings together more than 30 community-based HIV/AIDS organizations in Quebec to encourage the emergence and support of concerted actions to, among other things, deal with issues affecting people living with HIV and the different populations at risk of contracting HIV.

Although some women are at greater risk, vulnerability to HIV is not a fixed state: at different times in her life, a woman may be faced with situations that increase her risk of HIV infection. This is why the COCQ-SIDA Women’s Committee deemed necessary to develop a campaign targeting all women in the province of Quebec, to promote sexual health and prevention of HIV and sexually transmitted and blood-borne infection (STBBIs) prevention.

On this website, you will find factual information based on notions of pleasure and taking ownership over your sexuality. In other words, it is a good thing to take care of yourself, your health and your sexual health.

To this end, the objectives of the In My Bag campaign are to:

• Raise women’s awareness about sexual health
• Promote various strategies for avoiding HIV and other STBBIs in the spirit of pleasure and sexual empowerment
• Promote various harm reduction strategies related to using drugs

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Women’s Committee members who worked to develop this campaign and create this website. The members come from the following organizations: ACCM, ASPC, CASM, GAP-VIES, IRIS – Estrie, Le Néo, Sidaction Mauricie, Sphère – santé sexuelle globale, la DPITSS, Stella l’amie de Maimie

We also wish to thank UQAM' Département de Sexologie de l’UQAM and the FQPN for their contributions to the project.

Thanks also to Gabrielle Bouchard, who was director of Concordia University’s Centre for Gender Advocacy when this site was being created. We would also like to highlight the work of Christine Savoie who contributed to the content of this website.

The ''In my bag'' campaign was created by Locomotive. COCQ-SIDA and the members of the women’s committee thank them. We would also like to thank all the women who took part in the photo shoot. Your presence and your time were greatly appreciated.

Please don’t hesitate to share your feedback on this site and its contents. You can reach us at info@cocqsida.com

1 Sherbrooke Street East, Montreal, Quebec H2X 3V8, 514 844-2477, cocqsida.com

Disclaimer

In my purse is a website intended to inform. However, the information it provides:

• Is not necessarily complete, exhaustive, or systematically updated on a regular basis
• Sometimes leads to external sites over which we have no control, and for which we accept no responsibility

None of the comments, references, or analyses regarding the prevention of HIV and STBBIs contained on the present site purport to replace the advice of a medical professional specialized in this field.

The people represented on this site are models. Their image is used for illustration purposes only.