WITH World AIDS Day approaching, Jamaica AIDS Support For Life — the oldest HIV/AIDS response non-governmental organisation (NGO) in the Caribbean — is again highlighting the need for legislation to address unauthorised disclosure of the statuses of people who are HIV positive.

The call comes in the wake of the disclosure last month by human rights watchdog Jamaicans For Justice (JFJ) that the majority of Jamaicans whose HIV status have been made public were outed by their own relatives and partners “who weaponise their status”.

JFJ said as a result, several matters have been referred to the police Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime Investigations Branch (C-TOC) in instances where the disclosure was made online and threats issued.

“I’m sure that quote comes directly from our data. It’s a fact. That is the experience that we have found. The reality is, the majority of the cases of unauthorised disclosure that we get is from somebody they used to sleep with [or] a family member. We definitely have strong data to support that it is indeed either from intimate partners or close family members that these persons status are being disclosed with very little redress,” Patrick Lalor, policy and advocacy officer at JASL, told a recent Jamaica Observer
Monday Exchange.

“Because of the high levels of discrimination, people are very private about their HIV status [so] it’s generally people very close to them that would know. What we find is that the information is being put out there by these people and this is another legislative gap — unauthorised disclosure. What is the legal recourse that these people have when this happens?”questioned Lalor.

He said with the calls for protective measures supposedly falling on deaf ears, “there is very little that can be done” for the HIV/AIDS victims when they are outed.

“They can come in, counsel can write a cease and desist letter to say stop doing this, but there is not much more that can be done,” Lalor said.

JASL’s Legal Support Officer Latoya Thomas commenting further on the issue said with the “law falling short” as far as anti-discrimination legislation is concerned, the agency has been doing what it can.

“JASL recognises that we need to have legal literacy training for persons affected by this because the reality is that, in these relationships, intimate partner violence do ensue. And then what happens? Under-reporting is one; they have to face maybe self-stigma and other stigma. Even something simple like making a report to the police, there is another barrier because the reality is that even the police are not equipped to deal with these types of things,” Thomas told the meeting.

“We recognise these shortfalls and we try to put things in place, so we do human rights and rights-based training for the duty bearers and extend it to police, medical practitioners, justices of the peace, mediators and so on. We even went as far as going into the schools. These are the things we want; anti-discrimination provisions so everybody can be a survivor,” she said.

Last month JFJ Executive Director Mickel Jackson told the Observer that some 70 per cent of the disclosure of the HIV status of individuals occur within community settings by family members.

Jackson said the remaining 30 per cent happens within health and workplace settings.

She charged that within the community settings, women are the ones affected the most, with some of them being subjected to violence by their male partners who use their HIV-positive status against them.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) attacks the body’s immune system. Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) occurs at the most advanced stage of infection. HIV targets the body’s white blood cells, weakening the immune system.

Jackson, who was responding to questions from the Observer on the issue, said JFJ has been supporting the victims who are between the ages of 20 and 40 by providing warning letters from their attorneys to the perpetrators.

“In some instances, we have assisted with mediation meetings when the client requests same as they are afraid of navigating court proceedings or may just want reinstatement in their jobs. Where there is a general lack of understanding about HIV transmission that may fuel discrimination, we host community interventions or at places of employment where the discrimination may have occurred,” Jackson said.

“The legal remedy is limited. The most is the warning letter, which is really saying cease and desist or we may sue. Unfortunately, the possible criminal route is not readily being taken. Based on the laws that exist, the legal remedy is unclear. It may therefore mean pursuing a civil matter for constitutional breach of one’s right to privacy, but because of fear of further disclosure, some persons do not want to pursue that matter. This is something we are strategising around as to testing the legal remedies,” Jackson explained.

She said individuals who have been subjected to such treatment have had to get justice by other less direct means.

A 2013 study funded by the United Nations Development Programme said there are no laws to safeguard the right of persons living with HIV to an adequate standard of living and social protection in the event of unemployment, sickness, or disability, and to protect them and their households from stigmatising, discriminatory and violent actions.

Jamaica’s 2017 Revised National HIV Policy says HIV and AIDS rank among the top 10 causes of premature death in the island.

World AIDS Day is celebrated each year on December 1. This year’s theme is ‘Take the Rights Path’.