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www.aidsalliance.org
Supporting community action on AIDS in developing countries
Supporting community action on AIDS in developing countries
“Putting human rights, equity and
gender equality at the centre of the HIV
response requires a major shift in
coverage, content and resourcing of
HIV programming. Generic HIV
programmes that fail to address gender,
sexuality, inequality, unprotective legal
environments, mobility and drug
dependence must be transformed to do
so” - UNAIDS, 2011
Supporting community action on AIDS in developing countries
Supporting community action on AIDS in developing countries
•40% of respondents reported
loss of a job or source of
income
•33% of respondents reported
discrimination in education
settings
•Nearly 40% reported that
their human rights had been
abused in the past 12 months
- From the Stigma Index for
Kenya, 2011
At least 600
individuals living with
HIV in 24 countries
have been convicted
under HIV-specific or
general criminal laws
More than 300 convictions in
the USA and Canada.
North America is the region
with highest number of
criminal prosecutions for HIV
Supporting community action on AIDS in developing countries
• January 2008 to March 2012:
816 media reported killings
of transgender people
globally
• 643 media reported killings
in 21 countries in Central and
South America
• Between 2008 and 2011: 63
killings of people from the
LGBT community in
Honduras
Supporting community action on AIDS in developing countries
Xxxxx“(…) when we refer our peers to
public health centres, the centre should
guarantee proper treatment, with quality
and cordiality, but the reality is that this is
not the case for the transgender
population (…) When one of these
teenage sisters receives assistance from
one of these doctors, they do not touch
her, they do not examine her, they do not
check her body for any conditions; that
person comes away with a bad
perception which she naturally passes on
to the rest. No one wants to access
medical services, and this way the
process of self-medication continues.”
- Silueta X member
Supporting community action on AIDS in developing countries
• Argentina’s Gender Identity Law
came into effect in June 2012
• CCM representation by
transgender people in Latin
America (with seats in 11 CCMs)
Supporting community action on AIDS in developing countries
Supporting community action on AIDS in developing countries
7 Key Programmes to Address Human
Rights in National HIV Responses
• Stigma and discrimination
reduction
• Sensitization of law makers
and law enforcement agents
• HIV-related legal services
• Training for health care
providers on human rights and
medical ethics related to HIV
• Monitoring and reforming
laws, regulations and
policies relating to HIV
• Legal literacy (‘know your
rights’)
• Reducing harmful gender
norms and violence against
women and increasing their
legal, social and economic
empowerment in the context of
HIV
Supporting community action on AIDS in developing countries
“First, as a priority aspect in our NSP, we had to
look at how our legal environment could permit us
to work with some of those restricted populations.
A major activity was how could we engage policymakers to allow us to give services to those
people from a public health point of view, where
you need everyone to access services,
irrespective of your belief and orientation. Our
constitution states health as a human right. So we
used this to argue our cause.”
- Coordinator Partnership Affairs, Uganda
AIDS Commission.
Supporting community action on AIDS in developing countries
A new movement for HIV law reform?
“It is not easy or popular to call for the legalisation of
homosexuality in many African countries, but it is the right
thing to do. It is right because it is essential to slow the
spread of HIV and to ensure that human rights protections
are extended to all citizens. But it is also right because
people in Africa understand that the state has far more
urgent priorities than interfering in the private lives of
consenting adults.”
- Festus Mogae, former President of Botswana
Supporting community action on AIDS in developing countries
“When I can work in safe and fair conditions. When I am
free of discrimination. When I am free of labels like
‘immoral’ or ‘victim’. When I am free from unethical
researchers. When I am free to do my job without
harassment, violence or breaking the law. When sex work
is recognised as work. When we have safety, unity,
respect and our rights. When I am free to choose my own
way. THEN I am free to protect myself and others from
HIV.”
- Empower Foundation, Thailand, Asia-Pacific
Regional Dialogue, 2011 (Global Commission on HIV
and the Law)
Supporting community action on AIDS in developing countries
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