UN says end discrimination against people with HIV in Asia and the Pacific
12 August 2009
By Pita Ligaiula, PacNews (Pacific Island News Service)
The deputy executive director of UNFPA says ending discrimination and violence against those at risk of HIV infection is crucial in preventing the spread of HIV and AIDS in Asia and the Pacific.
An absolutely necessary first step in responding more effectively to the epidemic is to ensure legal protection that engage in high risk behaviours, Ms Mane said while speaking at the 9th International congress on Aids in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) in Bali.
Ms Mane has also called for an end to harassment of sex workers, injecting drug users and man who have sex with men. She said young people between 10 and 24 account for half of all new HIV infections in Asia and the Pacific.
The most marginalised among young people need to be brought to the centre of attention in HIV prevention, she said.
The main problem is that we are not reaching the most at risk young people with age appropriate and youth sensitive messages, services and programmes.
If we want prevention to work for young people it has to be by young people and with young people. Meanwhile, legal experts and human rights defenders at ICAAP agrees that crafting an effective Aids response in the region will require addressing legal barriers that are impending the process.
We have known for years that human rights are the bedrock upon which effective AIDS response are built. In spite of this, human rights violations continue to proliferate, said Yu Wha Kang, deputy high commissioner on Human rights.
Human rights frameworks and principles must be translated into real protection for people living with HIV, men who have sex with men, transgender people, sex workers, people who use drugs, prisoners and detainees. We must also pay specific attention to ensuring protections for women and children.
According to UNDP HIV director Jeffrey OMalley said the law can and should be instrumental in scaling up a right based AIDS response. Instead we often have situations where laws and their arbitrary, inappropriate enforcement are increasing the risk and vulnerability.
He said laws which criminalised sex work are used to blackmail, exploit and harass sex workers and sex workers often experience violence at the hands of police and service providers.
Laws which do not uphold women's property and inheritance rights can set off downward spiral of lost economic opportunities, reduced security and increased risk and vulnerability for women and girls.
Many countries in the Asia-Pacific region criminalise male to male sex and these laws often lead to violations of the rights of men who have sex with men and transgender people, Mr Malley said.
