Fall 2004 - Human Rights and HIV/AIDS

    Volume 31 Issue 4  

    Civil Rights & Constitution

    Introduction: AIDS and the Law—Then and Now

    In 1987, the nation’s response to the still new and mysterious AIDS epidemic owed more to hysteria than to reasoned analysis. It was clear that the situation would not change without the addition of a strong, rational, and dispassionate voice to the public conversation surrounding these issues. Thus the Board of Governors of the American Bar Association (ABA), at the request of the Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities (IRR), established the ABA AIDS Coordinating Committee in August 1987.

    Featured

    Bias & Discrimination

    Abstinence and Ignorance: Dismissing Science in the Fight Against AIDS

    by Joanne Csete

    It seems to be a little known fact that HIV/AIDS is little understood, even in places where it has claimed many lives. In most countries, large percentages of people still believe that HIV is transmitted by casual contact: sharing utensils, shaking hands, or sitting in the same classroom with an HIV-positive person. This lack of awareness, which reflects underfunded or misinformed government educational campaigns on HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, leaves people vulnerable to the virus and fuels the discrimination, stigma, and exclusion faced by people with AIDS.

    Business & Corporate

    The Changing Role of Business in the HIV/AIDS Crisis

    by Priya Bery

    Corporations do not operate in isolation. In fact, like nations and their populations, they have been deeply affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic as have nations and their populations. Some industries, such as the oil and extractives field, have reported that as much as 25 percent of their workforces have been infected with HIV. Recognition of these facts is now motivating multinational corporations and small- and medium-sized enterprises to become deeply involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS, not merely for reasons of good corporate citizenship but increasingly out of a more comprehensive understanding of corporate self-interest.

    Civil Rights & Constitution

    HIV-Based Persecution in Asylum and Immigration Decisions

    by Victoria Neilson

    Since 1987, the United States has sent a clear message to foreign nationals: if you are HIV-positive, keep out. The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) labels HIV “a communicable disease of public health significance,” rendering those living with HIV/AIDS “inadmissible.” Applicants for temporary visas who self-disclose their sero-positive status or applicants for permanent residence who test positive for HIV during a required medical examination therefore will be prevented from entering the United States or obtaining legal permanent residence unless they meet the stringent requirements for an HIV waiver.