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HIV Prevention
JFCU deals with building the skills, abilities and resources of individuals, communities, local institutions, and societies to the fight against HIV and AIDS. At the center of all JFCU's work in HIV prevention are seven guiding philosophies:
- Engaging multi-sectoral organizations to combat the epidemic
- Strengthening the skills, talents and resources of local communities through participatory technical and organizational skills training
- Working with communities to stem the spread of HIV
- Targeting people and communities most at risk of contracting HIV
- Developing and adapting technical and organizational skills training for people at all levels of education and literacy
- Effectively monitoring and evaluating programs
- Documenting and disseminating best practices
After nearly 30 years of addressing the HIV/AIDS pandemic, Uganda has reinforced the importance of breaking the silence around the epidemic, talking openly about HIV, and encouraging people to live positively.
Presently the Government seeks to complement the existing policy framework on HIV/AIDS with an overarching legal response.
The Government’s push to come up with the HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Bill, 2008 is driven by the wish to respond to serious concerns about the ongoing rapid spread of HIV/AIDS in the country; coupled by what is perceived to be a failure of existing HIV prevention efforts.
However, applying criminal law to HIV exposure or transmission, except in very limited circumstances, does the opposite. It reinforces the stereotype that people living with HIV are immoral and dangerous criminals, rather than, like everyone else, people endowed with responsibility, dignity and human rights.
In some countries, which have passed the law, women have been prosecuted for mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV. This is particularly outrageous when globally prevention of mother-to-child transmission coverage is only at 33%.
In resource poor settings, criminalisation is likely to put the blame solely on the woman for transmission that she may be unable to prevent due to dismally poor PMTCT coverage.
Criminalising HIV transmission does nothing to address the real problem which is women’s overall lack of power in society. Women often learn they are HIV positive before their male partners because they are more likely to access health services and thus are blamed for bringing the HIV virus into the relationship, according to a UNAIDS report.
Criminalisation therefore, is unlikely to prevent new infections or reduce women’s vulnerability to HIV. Criminalisation may harm women rather than assist them, and negatively impact both on public health and human rights.
Criminalising HIV exposure or transmission is generally an unjust and ineffective public policy. The obvious exception involves cases where individuals purposely or maliciously transmit HIV with the intent to harm others. Article 13 in particular provides for compulsory testing of targeted groups (drug abusers, sexual offenders and commercial sex workers) contrary to the international guidelines on HIV/AIDS and human rights.
The Government could aim at empowering HIV-positive persons by enacting and enforcing anti-discrimination laws and promoting social campaigns to reduce stigma. In order to slow down the spread of the HIV epidemic, vast numbers of people would have to be prevented from having unsafe sex, sharing syringes, or engaging in other risky behaviour, which no HIV-specific criminal law could possibly do.
HIV risk behaviour is prevalent in prisons, and most prison systems continue to reject introduction of evidence-informed prevention measures such as condoms and sterile injecting equipment and fail to undertake measures to reduce the prevalence of rape and other forms of sexual violence.
There is need therefore, for the Government to consult widely with the different stakeholders to make the current bill, human rights responsive. That is when we shall consolidate the gains the country has made in the HIV/AIDS struggle.
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Joy for Children Uganda
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P.O Box 15383
Kampala (Uganda)
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Telephone:
+256 414 380 417
+256 414 530 450
+256 712 982 301
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Email:
info@joyforchildren.org
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