WWAV was founded in 1989 by a collective of Black women in response to the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS in Black communities. Now, more than thirty years later, WWAV is New Orleans’ only queer/lesbian Black women-led organization. We maintain our history in grassroots organizing and harm reduction, while unapologetically engaging in policy advocacy at the intersections of gender, racial, and reproductive justice. Widely regarded as the leading national voice on the criminalization of Black women and girls in the South, WWAV is also a national and international leader in movements for human rights, sex workers’ rights, reproductive justice, and ending mass incarceration.