HIV, disability and discrimination: making the links in international and domestic human rights law

Abstract

Stigma and discrimination constitute one of the greatest barriers to dealing effectively with the HIV epidemic, underlying a range of human rights violations and hindering access to prevention, care, treatment and support. There is some existing protection against HIV-based discrimination under international law, but the extent of states' obligations to address such discrimination has not been comprehensively addressed in an international instrument.The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities entered into force in May 2008. As countries ratify the convention, they are required to amend national laws and policies to give greater protection to the human rights of people with disabilities, including abolishing disability-based discrimination by the state and protecting persons against such discrimination by others. The Disability Convention addresses many of the issues faced by people living with HIV (PLHIV) but does not explicitly include HIV or AIDS within its open-ended definition of "disability".Therefore, the advent of the Disability Convention prompts us to consider the links between HIV and disability and, specifically, to consider the opportunities it and other legal mechanisms, international or domestic, may afford for advancing the human rights of PLHIV facing human rights infringements. We do so in the belief that the movement for human rights is stronger when constituencies with so many common and overlapping interests are united, and that respectful and strategic collaboration ultimately strengthens both the disability rights and the AIDS movements.In this article, we first examine the links between HIV and disability. We then provide a brief overview of how international human rights law has treated both disability and HIV/AIDS. We note some of the different ways in which national anti-discrimination laws have reflected the links between HIV and disability, illustrated with representative examples from a number of countries. Finally, we offer some conclusions and recommendations about ways forward for collaboration between HIV and disability rights advocates in advancing human rights at the international level, including the use of the new tool that is the Disability Convention. We hope these reflections will promote further discussion across movements, ultimately to the benefit of all persons with disabilities and/or HIV.

Home-based rehabilitation interventions for adults living with HIV: a scoping review

“…However, it must be stressed that, even if HBR for PLHIV is proven to be equivalent in cost or costlier than institutionbased interventions, this should not obscure the fact that access to quality rehabilitation is a fundamental human right (United Nations 2006) that should be available to all individuals at risk of the disabling effects of HIV. It is vital, therefore for researchers and health professionals to heed the call of Elliott et al (2009) underlying a range of human rights violations and hindering access to prevention, care, treatment and support. There is some existing protection against HIV-based discrimination under international law, but the extent of states' obligations to address such discrimination has not been comprehensively addressed in an international instrument.The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities entered into force in May 2008.…”

Expanding the Horizons of Disability Law in India: A Study from a Human Rights Perspective

“…80 It seems that the Act tried to cover every kind of disability under Section 2(i), but in fact the term disability is included in a very narrow sense. 81 It does not provide for all kinds of disabilities, 82 such as internal disabilities of the kidney, lungs, or heart; nor does it cover difficulty in speaking, 83 emotional disability, 84 victims of social disability or stigma like Eunuch 85 or Dwarfism, AIDS patients, 86 or one with multiple disabilities.…”

Anxious and avoidant attachment styles and indicators of recovery in schizophrenia: Associations with self‐esteem and hope

“…To address this issue, this study has sought to compare the attachment styles of persons with schizophrenia spectrum disorders with another group of persons who experience significant medical and social adversity: participants diagnosed with HIV or AIDS. Persons with HIV have been well documented to suffer from significant adversity including stigma, discrimination, social isolation, and alienation which negatively effects outcome (Elliott, Utyasheva, & Zack, ; Riggs et al ., ; Stutterheim et al ., ). Therefore, we anticipated that if the attachment style observed in schizophrenia was a function of adversity then no differences in attachment style would be found between patients living with psychosis and HIV.…”