To kick off Get Tested Week, students gathered to talk about
women’s health concerns such as AIDS and other STDs during
the “Vagina Dialogues” held Monday night.
The event was an open forum for women to discuss sexual health
issues.
“It’s designed so anyone can say anything; anyone
can step up and talk about their personal experiences and talk in a
society where STDs and HIV are looked down upon,” said Carlos
Saucedo, a general representative on the Undergraduate Students
Association Council, which organized the event.
The students and faculty at the event discussed the importance
of talking about STDs and educating others on the importance of
getting tested.
“There’s a lot of stigma surrounding HIV and
AIDS,” said Jennifer Wang, co-chair of the event and
third-year psychology and women’s studies student.
“As women, we get shoved in the background talking about
the disease,” she said. “There’s all these
misconceptions about HIV, like, “˜she must be a
prostitute,’ “˜only gay people get it,’
“˜only black people get it.’ It’s everyone’s
disease.”
Brenda Moore, co-chair of the event, shared a story about a
woman she knew who lived 16 years without knowing she had the
disease.
“It’s a scary, scary disease in that if you get
tested and are positive, you have the disease for life,”
Moore said.
All the women at the event said they wanted to see more sex
education at a younger age.
Daisy Kim, a third-year women’s studies and public policy
student, told a story about a friend who grew up in a very
conservative town and didn’t learn about sex education until
she came to UCLA.
Kim said she hopes college-level students can freely talk about
these issues.
“These things that are closeted in are important to be
discussed,” Kim said. “It’s sad there are not
enough of these discussions around.”