Stratford’s downtown core will be decorated Thursday with handmade red scarves, a symbol of hope and solidarity on World AIDS Day dedicated to the thousands of Canadians living with HIV and the stigma the virus still carries.
Over a dozen knitters in the Stratford and St. Marys area contributed nearly 100 scarves to this year’s Red Scarf campaign, a signature event organized by Regional HIV/AIDS Connection (RHAC) – a Southwestern Ontario charity that supports individuals and communities living with, at -risk for, or affected by HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C.
Each scarf is a symbol of awareness and compassion that includes on a small tag with more information about HIV and the work RHAC does.
They’re free to take if you don’t already have one of your own.
“I think it’s important,” said Laurie Krempien-Hall, a local knitter and RHAC volunteer who’s helped organize the annual Red Scarf campaign in Stratford for over a decade. “I hope that (people) look at them, they take one … and wear it with pride.”
The Red Scarf campaign began in 2012. Since then, volunteers have knit more than 12,000 of them in an effort to raise awareness about the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.
“HIV isn’t what it used to be,” said Martin McIntosh, RHAC’s director of community relations education. “Today, people living with HIV today can lead long, healthy lives without passing the virus on to others.”
According to the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research (CANFAR), effective HIV treatment can suppress the virus in a person’s system to a point where it cannot be transmitted to sexual partners. HIV can also be prevented by taking a medication.
Despite those advances, however, stigma remains a significant obstacle for people living with and at-risk for HIV.
“So many people still think it’s something that’s gone away,” Krempien-Hall said. “It’s not gone away.”
“A red scarf is a really easy way to show your support,” McIntosh added.
A World AIDS Day vigil held in Stratford prior to the pandemic hasn’t yet been revived, McIntosh said, but RHAC’s vigil at London’s First-St. Andrew’s United Church will be steamed live on Zoom for anyone who wishes to take part.
More information about RHAC’s programs and services can be found at redscarf.ca.