Water For Justice

A RIGHTS-BASED APPROACH TO HIV/AIDS

TRC through the human rights programme arranged a meeting with LENEPWA to discuss the collaboration on a rights-based approach to HIV/AIDS. This was informed by the fact that human rights are fundamental to addressing the HIV and AIDS epidemic. On the one hand human rights violations fuel the epidemic by increasing people's vulnerability to infection.

On the other, human rights violations often follow infection and people living with HIV and AIDS can be subjected to various forms of discrimination and ill treatment, including harassment, arbitrary arrest. Discriminatory policies and practices can also result in people being denied access to the information, support and services necessary to make informed decisions.
In the meeting it was raised that in Lesotho , HIV-positive people are still subject to serious forms of stigma and discrimination. They risk losing their jobs, being ostracized from their communities and being denied equal access to goods and services necessary to realize their human rights, and even the protection of the law. The vast majority of people living with HIV have inadequate access to care. It is against this background that TRC held a two day meeting with LENEPWA to agree on the following collaboration areas:

LENEPWA will support prevention efforts by:

working for the dissemination of information and human rights standards relevant to the prevention and treatment of HIV and AIDS;
campaigning for the protection of HIV and AIDS activists and educators who are under threat by individuals because of their work;
campaigning against violence against women, drawing attention to the gender-specific impact such violence has on spreading HIV;
campaigning for the rights of uprooted people, including those who have been trafficked, who face particular risks of violence and HIV infection.

TRC will support the human rights of people living with HIV and AIDS by:

campaigning to safeguard the physical integrity and security of people living with HIV and AIDS;
lobby for access to health care and education for prisoners living with HIV and AIDS;
advocating for the protection of people who are at risk of acquiring HIV because of discrimination or as a result of violence including sexual violence;
campaigning on the right to health, including available, accessible and quality health.