#NoShameNovember30

In November 2022, Action for Safer Supply launched a brief three-day anti-shame campaign leading up to World AIDS Day on December 1st. Action for Safer Supply – a NSS-CoP working group composed exclusively of people who use drugs – advocates for the expansion of prescribed and non-medicalized safer supply programs across the country. The working group amplifies the knowledge and expertise of people who use drugs concerning safer supply and works to ensure that people with living and lived experience are justly included in safer supply programming, practices, and guidelines.

The #NoShameNovember30 Campaign – running from November 28th to November 30th 2022 – offered a platform for people who use drugs to reflect on their experiences with stigma and shame and to share their stories of survival and resilience. Submissions were collected over the three-day period and posted/circulated on NSS-CoP social media platforms.

Day 1

Day 1 (November 28th) featured the launch of the campaign on social media and a submission call-out directed at people who use drugs. Contributions welcomed written stories/reflections, recorded videos/audio, poetry, music, YouTube, or other uploaded media, photography, and artwork of any kind.

 

Day 2

Day 2 (November 29th) introduced four reflection questions. Action for Safer Supply drafted these reflection questions, the first set focusing on the more negative, challenging sides of shame and the second set centering on the more positive, triumphant sides of shame.

“What word comes to mind when you hear the word shame? What word comes to mind when you reflect on your experiences with shame?” and “What word comes to mind when you think about how you’ve overcome shame in your life? What word comes to mind when you reflect on your experiences fighting shame?”

 

Day 3

Day 3 began by featuring a series of three “word cloud” graphics – single word responses we received to the reflection questions posted the day before.

  

These graphics were followed by a video created by working group member millie, offering their experience of reframing shame related to being autistic, ADHD, transgender, and a person who uses drugs.

World AIDS Day 2022

World AIDS Day 2022 was marked on December 1st via social media platforms with a statement written by Colin H. Johnson, followed by artwork and poetry submitted by Shane J., both Action for Safer Supply working group members.