HIV Stigma and Harassment Action

posted: 24/03/2010

Ending HIV stigma and harassment has edged a little closer. An official inquiry is about to begin into progress by public authorities on eliminating disability harassment – and this includes HIV stigma. The Inquiry is called because of recent cases of severe disability harassment neglected by public authorities. Councils and the NHS, among other public bodies, are simply not doing what the law tells them to - eliminate disability harassment.

Last week George House Trust met with the Equalities and Human Rights Commission in Manchester at a consultation into exactly what the disability harassment inquiry should look into.
 

• We made it plain that the official Inquiry must include HIV and not just people with learning difficulties or mental health problems.
• We said that people with invisible but highly stigmatised conditions like HIV face considerable disability harassment and stigma, and many barriers to complaining.
• We said that public bodies, with rare exceptions, ignore their duty to eliminate HIV disability harassment and stigma.

Over the next year the Equality and Human Rights Commission will investigate and we have offered to help gather HIV evidence. We are working with NAT to make this a nationwide effort.
 

What will happen?
The Commission has considerable powers to force public bodies to act if they are not doing their job. We have a right to expect things to improve and the least we expect is public campaigns to make HIV stigma and harassment socially unacceptable everywhere, a bit like the Kick Racism out of Football campaign.
 

The powers the EHRC has to force public bodies to eliminate HIV stigma and harassment means HIV stigma and harassment could really start to fade away. We think the Commission should start using its powers - this is one of the best hopes we have for ending HIV stigma and harassment.
 

We’ll keep you updated on the Inquiry and how you can give evidence confidentially.
Disability Harassment Inquiry
 

Asylum - Human Rights Ignored

posted: 09/03/2010

A new report for the Equalities and Human Rights Commission lays bare the UK government’s abuse of the human rights of asylum seekers and refugees living here, including many who are living with HIV. People seeking sanctuary in Britain are denied vital healthcare whether they are in detention centres or living in the community, the Equality and Human Rights Commission has found. Hundreds of rape victims, people living with HIV, and traumatised children are missing out on treatment and basic medical help.
 

Institutional failures

The report, from the University of Kent, warns "There is evidence of an institutional failure to address health concerns about asylum seekers in detention. More specifically there are concerns about children's health, mental health, treatment for those with HIV and access to female GPs, especially for women who have suffered rape and sexual violence."
 

Asylum and medical charity workers said the findings confirmed the experience of hundreds of refugees. A spokeswoman for Medical Justice said: "Sadly and unsurprisingly, findings of these failures accord with what our volunteer doctors have been seeing on the hundreds of occasions they have visited immigration detainees and seen their medical notes."
 

Time for action

This EHRC report sets out problems of poor treatment of refugees and asylum seekers in the UK. There are some serious failings. We’ll be checking to see what action the Commission now takes to end the government’s mistreatment and denial of people’s human rights.

HIV, health and social care
Inadequate HIV healthcare is one of the points highlighted in the healthcare section of the report. There are specific concerns around vulnerable groups. For women asylum seekers and refugees there is evidence of poor antenatal care and pregnancy outcomes. There is little evidence of the commissioning of services for disabled asylum seekers (such as everyone with HIV) and no clear guidance exists on local authority responsibilities towards asylum seekers with care needs. Mental health problems including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety are prevalent among asylum seekers and refugees, and the provision of mental health services for survivors of torture and organised violence is widely regarded as inadequate.
 

The vulnerability and ill health of asylum-seeking and refugee children is an area of particular concern, as are the health needs of older refugees. There are also concerns around the provision of healthcare to asylum seekers in detention with communicable diseases and with HIV/AIDS.
 

Poverty, destitution and access to accommodation and financial support
Asylum seekers are vulnerable to poverty and destitution (defined as not having adequate accommodation or support for themselves and their dependants for the next 14 days) as a result of a number of factors. These include: the circumstances in which they and their dependants arrive in the UK (often without money or accommodation), the complexity of the rules for entitlement to financial and other support for asylum seekers and those refused asylum, the occurrence of administrative and casework errors, and the fact that the vast majority of asylum seekers do not have permission to work.

Evidence indicates that refused asylum seekers are the most disadvantaged group and evidence of destitution appears to run counter to Section 11 of Chapter 42 of the Human Rights Act 1988 and Council Directive 2003/9/EC.
 

Care needs gaps
Asylum seekers with care needs are particularly vulnerable to poverty and to falling through the gaps between Home Office and social services support. Other vulnerable groups include single women and those with children.
 

There are concerns about the specific requirements that asylum seekers must meet when lodging a claim in order to be eligible for support. The incompatibility of the Section 55 and 9 provisions with Articles 3 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) remains a key concern, as do the conditions that asylum seekers must comply with in order to receive Section 4 support. Complex issues surround the provision of support for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, and there are doubts as to whether the UK’s responsibilities under domestic legislation and international human rights principles are being fulfilled.
 

Key issues for action now by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission
There is an ongoing tension between policies relating to immigration control and those concerned with welfare. This lies at the heart of many of the concerns regarding the equality and human rights of asylum seekers and refugees.

• Processes for removal involving detention and deportation have been the subject of sustained criticism on human rights grounds.
• Living conditions and support received by asylum seekers and refugees in the UK also cause concern. There are general inefficiencies within the system: many people do not know or understand the process, and receive different and conflicting advice from different agencies. On accommodation and support, the impact of the Section 55 and Section 9 provisions has been of considerable concern and, despite various clarifications and revisions by the government, may continue to have an adverse impact on asylum seekers. The quality of housing remains problematic and in some instances appears to conflict with the respect for family and home required by Article 8 of the ECHR.
• There is evidence of problems of access to healthcare. There is a serious lack of clarity with respect to the healthcare entitlements of asylum seekers and this feeds into confusion at ground level.
• Policies and practices within the asylum system covering the seven equality areas, as well as the treatment of vulnerable groups, also cause concern. The provisions put in place by UKBA in order to meet its legal requirements to take gender, race and disability into account have been criticised, and there is clearly a need for more rigorous and widespread equality impact assessments of the various aspects of the asylum system. Furthermore, less consideration is given to those equality areas not subject to the current equality duties. Ideally, the introduction of a new single equality duty covering all seven strands should help to initiate consideration of the issues affecting gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans asylum seekers, as well as those of different ages and with different religion or beliefs.

EHRC report (pdf) - Refugees and asylum seekers : a review from an equality and human rights perspective

Source 
Equality and Human Rights Commission

HIV Social Care Personalisation

posted: 08/12/2009

The Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) wants people to know about the plans for ‘personalisation’ of social care, and that the people who need and want this can obtain it. This includes gay men with HIV - in North West England they are working on a pilot involving George House Trust and LGF (lesbian and gay foundation), Merseyside Disability Federation, Breakthrough UK, Voluntary Sector North West.
 

What’s personalisation?
Personalisation aims to transform public services. The idea is to empower and help people using social care services to make choices and take control of their support. It is so people can live their lives as they wish, with the support of high quality services that are safe, tailored to meet individual needs and facilitate independence, wellbeing and dignity.
 

There are various versions of personalisation – it includes systems known as “Direct Payments”, “Self-Directed Support”, and “In Control”.
 

For people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, personalisation should mean fair and equal access to services to meet your specific needs, promote your independence and autonomy, and enable you to achieve your full potential.
The first step is a survey of organisations asking What’s happening already - organisations are asked to complete the survey 
 

Focus Groups
The ECHR will hold some focus groups across the region with gay people with disabilities (such as people with HIV) to ask their opinions and thoughts about how they use social care services. More details will be available soon.
 

More information
For more information about this study, please contact Peter Bates or Sian Payne

HIV Rights Threatened

posted: 27/07/2009

Crisis at the top of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission has followed the controversial reappointment of Trevor Phillips as its chair for another three years. The commission took over from the Disability Rights Commission (and the other commissions for race and gender) and so is now the body responsible for promoting the rights of people living with HIV. The crisis at the top threatens the work of the commission on behalf of everyone living with HIV.

• Six of the 16 commissioners (the board of directors) have quit so far and another is expected to go. Three of these were the disability commissioners.
• The chief executive and director of communications have both resigned.
• The National Audit Office earlier this month refused to approve the commission's accounts, as over £1m was misspent on making 7 senior staff redundant from the former Commission for Racial Equality he led, who were then immediately reappointed as expensive consultants.
• Phillips owns a majority stake in an equalities consultancy, and this risks conflicts of interest because he's in charge of UK equalities advice and regulation.
• A £300,000 contract for media work was awarded without following EU procedures to a company run by a close friend.

He's paid £110,000 a year for three and a half days a week of work. He's known by some as 'Teflon' Phillips, and denies he's done anything wrong. He's hidden himself away on holiday and refuses to answer his critics, while his commissioners and key staff abandon ship.

photo credit

More information and discussion