Human Rights

Prejudice and ignorance can go a really long way towards sustaining injustice, and that is why I believe that sessions like the one on sex workers rights at the Human Rights Networking Zone was completely necessary.
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When members of Brigada Callejera, a sex workers' and transgender rights organization in Mexico City, came to the first of the AIDS2008 activist meetings last Saturday morning, they explained the human rights issues that sex workers here face. Not only are sex workers forced to take STD and HIV tests - and carry a card saying they are HIV negative - a new policy requires them to pay for these tests themselves. This repression is in addition to the fact that sex work is still illegal here, and the police are more likely to arrest workers if they carry condoms.

The group, whose members include Elvira Madrid, Krisna, and Elma Delea, also held a lively protest for access to HIV meds in Mexico yesterday. I believe that Krisna said in the activist meeting on Saturday that antiretrovirals cost 7,500 pesos per month (about $750) here in Mexico, but I need to fact-check that. She did say that indigenous people have almost no access to prevention or treatment services.  read more »

~ Declare That People with Disabilities Get HIV Due to Discrimination and Exclusion ~

~ Demand Immediate Inclusion in HIV/AIDS Research and Programming to End A Generation of Neglect ~

Today people living with disabilities - including people living with HIV/AIDS and disabilities - and allies will convene at an historic AIDS2008 satellite session to demand that international AIDS community end decades of neglect of this population, who lives at heightened risk of HIV acquisition and morbidity.  AIDS-Free World and Disabled Peoples' International will call for immediate inclusion in HIV/AIDS research agendas, data collection and programming for prevention, treatment and care.

At an August 4 press conference organized by AIDS-Free World and Disabled People's International, activists and researchers laid out the context that makes people living with disabilities especially vulnerable to HIV.  At least 10% of the world's population - 650 Million people - has a disability affecting their daily lives.  Globally, most people with disabilities face poverty, stigma, social isolation and marginalization, and 80% dwell in rural areas of developing countries.  read more »

Women of the world unite for their rights! The past few days have demonstrated the power and visibility of women at the International AIDS Conference, with hundreds of women and girls’ rights activists leading the charge by marching to the Zocalo (the historic city square) to the beat of “all rights for all women.” Women, men, transgender persons, sex workers, lesbians, adolescents, and gender equality advocates are demanding the fundamental human rights of women and young women: the right to live and make decisions without fear of violence, coercion, stigmatization or discrimination; the right to a free, healthy and safe sex life; the right to dignified work; the right to comprehensive information and services regarding prevention and sex education; the right to life-saving treatment… With women comprising 60% of adults living with HIV and AIDS in many regions of the world, women’s lives hang in balance in the absence of these rights.  read more »

Tuesday's symposium during the afternoon provided plenty of food for thought. Deloris Dockrey from the US, Shaun Mellors from South Africa, Carlos García de León from Mexico and Veronica from ICW who substituted for Promise Mthembu all gave their reasons and thoughts behind the movement to provide sexual and reproductive right services and information to People Living with HIV-AIDS.

One of my thoughts on seeing this panel composed of only PLHIV was that it was a shame more people couldn't see this: the way these men and women are strongly going on with their lives and advocating for others to do the same is inspiring. They spoke candidly about their positive status, the impact it has had on their lives and how in spite of popular belief, men and women with HIV don't lose the wish or right to marry or find a partner and found a family if they so desire.

One of the main ideas proposed during this panel was that PLHIV should have access to family planning centers and health information specific to their condition. They should be able to go to a clinic and ask about birth control methods and interaction with ARV drugs, the usage of condoms, recommendations on IUD placement and what cares they should take if they wish to have a family, space children out or should they require pregnancy termination.
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 An alliance of housing activists took over the space just outside the media center Tuesday at 1pm with a model encampment to dramatize the international crisis of homelessness. Demanding that policymakers recognize that housing needs to be an integral part of any response to the AIDS pandemic, they chanted, "Housing is a human right!" and "Que Queremos? Vivienda Digna!" (What do we want? Housing with dignity!)  read more »

Length: 2:21 In case you are tired of reading and want to listen to something: Activists Ms. Starr, Samanta, Lek and Susan speak on why sex workers are at the International AIDS Conference - a piece I put together for Free Speech Radio News, a national news network in the United States.

It is no easy task to give an overview of the human rights related sessions at the AIDS conference today. There were more than 30 such sessions, starting for 7 am and running until late in the evening. These sessions covered numerous different topics such as drug use and policy, women’s rights, MSM, HIV testing, indigenous populations, discrimination and stigma, prevention, travel restrictions, sex work, prisons, intellectual property and treatment, and criminalization. All this reflects just how central human rights are to the response to HIV.

There is one theme that really jumped out from today’s sessions: the fact that many human rights problems are related to the failure of governments to base HIV policies in scientific evidence. The title of one of today’s sessions aptly summarized this theme: “Research-based public policy: Why is it not the gold standard?”
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The following was originally posted on PHR's Blog AIDS. It's not over, about the Iranian HIV/AIDS Docs I posted about recently here.  

 

The most moving aspect of AIDS 2008 so far for me has been meeting so many of Kamiar and Arash Alaei’s friends and colleagues—all of whom have stories and kind words about the two physicians detained in Iran and are hoping to see the brothers again soon. Today, one of their colleagues, Dr. Adeeba Kamarulzaman, gave an important plenary speech about her work on harm reduction—and in front of thousands of conference participants, made an impassioned plea to the Iranian Government to free Arash and Kamiar. To sustained applause, we walked in front of the plenary carrying signs with photos of the brothers and the URL for the petition to the government of Iran, IranFreeTheDocs.org. We passed out thousands of buttons and stickers, which are now all over the conference.  read more »

Length: 8:22 Beginning in the middle of June, the Cambodian government has swept up hundreds of people who use drugs, sex workers, and homeless people following passage of a USA-backed anti-human trafficking law.  People have been detained without charges in Khmer Rouge era camps in appalling conditions, without access to HIV and TB medications and other healthcare. Soon after the crisis started, Korsang, a Phnom Penh based harm reduction organization, went 24-7 to provide housing, nutrition, medical care and harm reduction services to scores of people in danger of detention.  In this interview, Korsang co-founder Holly Bradford talks about what’s going on, and what Korsang needs to keep people safe. You can help Korsang by donating through the Chicago Recovery Alliance (be sure to write Korsang in the ‘Designation’ line).  read more »