HARRIET

I AM

As a feminist and activist fighting for the rights of sex workers, my skills as a journalist and sexologist are really useful when it comes to understanding complex correlations or when we need proper wording for a campaign. In my daily work for organisations such as the Foundation Sexuality and Health I try to combine all these aspects to encourage a positive attitude towards sexuality.

I am a cisgender woman living in Cologne, Germany. My city is often referred to as the queer capital of Europe. Rightly so. I may appear like a typical German, still I come from a very migrated family.

OPEN

My HIV related biography started in the early 1990’s. In those days, it was AIDS and we were burying way too many friends. I was working for the German National AIDS Foundation, a charity supporting people living with HIV in need, and we didn’t have effective medication and we were seeing many human rights at stake. HIV was seen as a threat for the public. I made my work around HIV a vehicle to advocate for empowerment and against repression.

As a huge fan of science fiction, some of my friends even call me a utopist. And yes, against all odds, I’m still an optimist. I’m happy to have lived long enough to see how far we have come regarding medication. This progress in science is an example for me to thrive for similar progress in other areas. Through my story, I hope that I can inspire some activists to stay persistent, even stubborn. I don’t like to be patient, but it’s worth to have a lot of staying power.

A quote that motivates me every day in my HIV related work originates from an extraterrestrial people, the Vulcans, in the Star Trek universe. It praises the value of diversity as a source of strength and creativity: “Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations”.