Introduction: human rights and HIV, an undeniable link
After several decades of responding to the HIV epidemic, few dispute the fact that human rights matter. From the 1990s onwards the global HIV movement was based on a premise that people living with or affected by HIV had the fundamental human right to access treatment, prevention, care and support.
Throughout the 2000s and the 2010s there was no declaration or statement on HIV that did not call for an end to the stigma and discrimination of people affected by HIV; not only because they constitute human rights violations, but also because tacking them is a key premise to effectively deal with the epidemic. Well into the 2010s, increasing numbers of experts and policy makers claim that in order to end AIDS, it is imperative to protect and promote the human rights of people affected by HIV.
On 1st March every year the world celebrates Zero Discrimination Day. This day is testimony to the progress made in acknowledging and addressing HIV-related discrimination in all its forms, from legal to policy to social manifestations. Zero discrimination targets are key in the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/ AIDS’ (UNAIDS) strategy to end AIDS as a major global health crisis by 2030.
Human rights principles, including non-discrimination and equality are also at the core of the new Sustainable Development Goals.
Human rights-specific programmes to respond to HIV are now well established among key actors in HIV governance, from UNAIDS to the Global Fund.
Stigma and discrimination reduction programmes, legal services, monitoring and reforming of laws and practices, sensitisation of law enforcement officers and training of healthcare workers, programmes to tackle gender inequality, harmful gender norms and gender-based violence, and other programmes aimed at eliminating legal barriers to accessing HIV services are fully recognised HIV interventions.
For the Alliance and ARASA, these programmes should always include core community-led human rights interventions such as responses to individual emergencies, community-led advocacy, and community-owned evidence gathering