INTERSECT grew from a belief that the urgency and scale of the HIV pandemic and Violence Against Women and Girls worldwide make it necessary to find more powerful, more innovative, and more collaborative Coalitions that build on the brilliant work being done in these and related fields, and to find new mechanisms to harness that energy. It seemed clear that if we are ever to combat AIDS effectively, the women’s movement was going to have to take HIV/AIDS with deadly seriousness and take more of a leading role in establishing a new social environment conducive to significant change.

INTERSECT was launched in South Africa with the establishment of three South African Intersect Coalitions in the provinces of Eastern Cape, KwaZulu Natal and Western Cape. These Intersect Coalitions have become a model and an inspiration for expansion to other South African provinces and across other countries.

INTERSECT was conceived and founded by Sally Fisher. With a rich and varied experience in the arts, HIV /AIDS , and Violence Against Women, Ms. Fisher has worked for over two decades in community empowerment and social change. She has developed numerous coalitions as well as methodologies, which have created vehicles through which the process of change has been initiated. Please (CLICK HERE) for a letter from the founder, including the full story of its inception.