Red Thread, 

Guyana Rainbow Foundation (GuyBow),

Stella’s Sisterhood of Support & Service (S4) Foundation and the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD)

invite all members of the public to a discussion forum on

“Gender Equality and Sexual Rights 

in Guyana”

on Thursday, April 4, 2013 from 17:00 hrs at Moray House Trust,

239 Camp and Quamina Streets, Georgetown, Guyana

________________________________________________________

For further information contact SASOD by telephone on (592) 225-7283 or 623-5155 or by email at sasod.officer@gmail.com

          Submission to Support the Abolition of Corporal Punishment in Schools in Guyana

March 15, 2013

The Clerk of the Committee,

Special Select Committee On Guyana’s Commitment

To The United Nations Human Rights Council

With Regard To

The Abolition Of Corporal Punishment In The Schools,

The Abolition Of The Death Penalty And

The Decriminalization Of Consensual Adult Same Sex Relations And Discrimination Against Lesbians, Gays, Bi-Sexual And Transgender Persons

(Resolution No. 23 Of 2012) Committees Division

SASOD, as a human rights group, is in full support of abolishing corporal punishment in schools.

Physical violence is masked as corporal punishment in all spheres of Guyanese society, homes, schools and other institutions, and it is a significant contributing factor to the violence that prevails and plagues our society today. Such behavior towards children teaches them at an early age that resorting to violence is an acceptable way of dealing with:

·         intense emotions, such as anger, anxiety and stress;

·         to deal with conflict; and

·         that it is acceptable for people in authority to foist their will, rules or ways on those in their care through the use of brute force, in this case corporal punishment.

Further corporal punishment attacks the child's body and not the problem itself. It is useless if the goal is to correct a particular behavior. Rather it communicates and instills hatred and fear in the child.

Some persons believe that because their religion sanctions beating children that it is an acceptable form of disciplinary action, but those same religions also endorse many other human rights abuses that we consider abhorrent in civilized society today. Besides, Guyana is a secular nation where religion should be separate from the state and without undue influence on public policy and law making. Anything less would be regressive and colonial.   

The Ministry of Education has a ZERO tolerance policy on bullying, yet it is acceptable for teachers to beat children, as we have seen being reported in the local media. Is this not a form of bullying? The power lies with the bigger person, in this case the adult in charge.

To put it simply, beating children in Guyana's schools is an abuse of the power of adults over children. Guyana has to overcome a history of institutional violence being used, as was in the case during slavery, indentureship and colonialism. We are now an independent country and must move away from these barbaric, archaic practices which our current laws legitimize.

 The 2005 UNICEF/Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security/Red Thread Report "Voices of Children: Experiences with Violence" states:

"The 2002 Ministry of Education guidelines state that corporal punishment of children should not be used by class teachers, but only by the Head Teacher in extreme cases. However, during this survey, children reported that corporal punishment is administered more often by teachers in the classroom than by the heads in Schools."

The report identifies not doing school work well as among the six most common reasons for the administration of corporal punishment in schools. Twenty percent (20%) of children interviewed said that they received corporal punishment for such things as not finishing work, not writing fast enough, and spelling words incorrectly. This indicates that corporal punishment is not only being used as a means of imposing discipline but to penalise children whose only 'crime' is performing below expectations in academic subjects. This group will include children who may be dyslexic, abused, or have mild physical disabilities.

The use of corporal punishment in this way is all the more intolerable because by creating a psychological association between physical punishment and school work, it encourages children who are unable to satisfy their teachers to believe themselves failures and this no doubt contributes significantly to the dropout rate. The 2005 report also states that:

"Children often mentioned being physically and emotionally hurt by the use of corporal punishment and even described being 'beaten bad' by their teachers [resulting in] swelling of hands so that it was difficult to write, leaving permanent marks on their skin, leaving them so humiliated that they could not concentrate on their work, or leaving them too afraid to ask for help."

The UN Secretary General's Study on Violence against Children suggests that there must be a turning point - an end to adult justification of violence against children, whether accepted as “tradition” or disguised as “discipline”. There can be no compromise in challenging violence against children. Children’s uniqueness - their potential and vulnerability, their dependence on adults - makes it imperative that they have more, not less, protection from violence.

Indiscipline throughout our institutions and throughout our streets is the product of women and men who suffered corporal punishment. The failures of reason and the easy recourse to violence in every situation in Guyana come from women and men who suffered corporal punishment.

We therefore call for the removal of the corporal punishment provisions from the Education Act and for legal abolition of corporal punishment in Guyana.

Joint Press Release - International Woman’s Day

The Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender (LBT) Women’s Network (GY Sista Friends), Stella’s Sisterhood for Service and Support (S4) Foundation, Red Thread, Guyana Rainbow Foundation (GuyBow) and the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) unite in celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of Guyanese women on the occasion of International Women’s Day (IWD), notwithstanding the challenges women face living in our patriarchal society. Our groups remain committed to advancing progress for all women in every sphere of their lives.  IWD is commemorated annually on March 8. 

Despite efforts to empower women, leading roles in many sectors of the formal economy are still heavily dominated by men. In order to create meaningful, positive change, gender equality must also result in both equality of opportunity and outcome for women and men alike. Women must have equal access to the same opportunities, as well as equal pay for work of the same value, as men. “We also need to value women’s caring work,” said Karen De Souza, National Coordinator of Red Thread. “Women are often trapped in abusive relationships because of their economic circumstances, so valuing the caring work that women do in their homes and communities is critical to ending violence” she added. 

Guyana has good laws on its books aimed at eradicating violence against women. However, gender-based violence has reached pandemic proportions. Imarah Radix, Project Coordinator of the S4 Foundation vehemently stated that, “we need to stop hitting and hurting women. Each one of us has a role to play in ending domestic violence and we must recognise this. We cannot wait on the police or the courts to make a judgment; as the facts have shown that even though someone may have a court order, they are killed in the middle of the night, at home, in bed, by their partners.”

Colleen McEwan, Executive Director of GuyBow and member of GY Sista Friends pointed out that, “we must change our attitudes towards discrimination and violence against all women, including lesbian, bisexual and transgender women. We must challenge discrimination and violence wherever and whenever it raises its ugly head,” she added.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention of the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1979, to which Guyana is a party. The CEDAW committee meets regularly – one year after a country ratifies the Convention and every four years thereafter – to review reports submitted by governments on progress towards its implementation. In its most recent review of Guyana in New York in July 2012, the CEDAW Committee in its concluding observations urged Guyana “to provide effective protection against violence and discrimination against all groups of women through the enactment of comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation that includes the prohibition of all forms of discrimination against them and the decriminalization of consensual adult same sex relations...”

 We challenge every person to play their part in ensuring that we continue to create a society where women are empowered and have equal opportunities to their male counterparts. Every Guyanese woman has the right to the freedoms as outlined in the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights and should be protected, regardless of their differences.

Press Relase: World Day of Social Justice

Marking World Day of Social Justice, celebrated on February 20 annually, leading Civil Society Groups highlight key recommendations from the recently-concluded review of Guyana’s obligations before the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Red Thread, Artistes In Direct Support (A.I.D.S.), Family Awareness Conscious Together (FACT) and the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) contributed a joint submission on sexuality and gender issues affecting children in Guyana to the review which took place in Geneva last month. 

Field research for joint submission prepared by the groups found that many Guyanese children face a wide range of challenges such as poverty, violence, and lack of support from family and teachers, who have little understanding of the problems affecting them and often do not possess the skills to empower, but rather shun them when they seek support and guidance. Desiree Edgehill, Executive Director of A.I.D.S. reiterated," a major concern is contracting HIV, since we know that children are sexually active as early as 14 years old, according to the 2008/2009 Biological Behavioural Surveillance Survey done by the Ministry of Health.” In light of these issues CRC recommended that Guyana undertake targeted programmes for improving access to age- appropriate, HIV and sexual reproductive and health information and services among adolescents.

Additionally, CRC recommended that Guyana adopt a sex and reproductive health policy for adolescents and ensure that sex and reproductive education is widely promoted and targeted at adolescent girls and boys, with special attention to the prevention of early pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, HIV and sexual health services and information for children. “Children need comprehensive sex and sexuality education so that they can make informed decisions regarding their own healthy, sexual development and growth without the judgements and condemnations that are too often forthcoming from the adults around them. The education authorities must move to implement urgently the age appropriate HFLE programme that has been promised for so long" said Karen de Souza, National Coordinator of Red Thread.

The responses to sexuality and gender issues affecting children are severely constrained, which stems from cultural norms and attitudes which further weaken the support to children and youth specifically when it conflicts with norms and expectations of society. There is too little in place structurally to address the need to provide information and support to these children and youth who are grappling with questions and prejudices about sexuality and gender. When children encounter discrimination based on their real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity, the responses they receive from adults are often punitive, rather than educational. Many children therefore grapple with these issues without adequate support. Civil society organisations (CSOs) continue to advocate for the rights of all children and youth, and often provide refuge, in lieu of state protection, for children facing abuse, even with their very limited resources.  Specifically, CRC requested that Guyana address discrimination against children based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

"We recognise that discrimination against children based on sexual orientation and gender identity is an issue we need to address not only by educating children, but also their parents, guardians, teachers and community leaders - the ones children turn to for help and support," said Anette Jaundoo, Project Coordinator of FACT. The four Civil Society Groups are calling on all Guyanese to play their role in protecting children’s rights; end discrimination against children based on sexual orientation, gender identity and other grounds and provide access to comprehensive sex and sexuality education. It is by removing barriers related to sexuality and gender like these, which impede children’s rights that social justice will be advanced in Guyana.

Vacancy for Advocacy and Communications Officer

VACANCY

Project Title: “Empowering civil society to address societal prejudice and undertake advocacy on discrimination against LGBT persons”

A vacancy exists within the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) for an Advocacy and Communication Officer.

The Advocacy and Communication Officer will be responsible for:

1. Managing engagement with stakeholders;
2. Implementing SASOD’s advocacy strategy;
3. Monitoring strategic litigation and  take trial notes;
4. Participating in strategic planning activities with SASOD and partners;
5. Organizing advocacy related initiatives;
6. Organizing training workshops, roundtable sessions, coalition meetings and other activities;
7. Managing the assigned budgets and  approve expenditures;
8. Following up on reports of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, and  supporting complaints to seek services and redress;
9. Creating media content;
10. Monitoring the electronic, print and social media platforms for LGBT related matters;
11. Monitoring legislative reform process;
12. Any other duties assigned.

Qualifications:

At least a diploma from an accredited university in Communication, Public Relations, Media, English, Political Science, History, Sociology or any other relevant field.

Requirements:

Applicants are required to submit a copy of their Curriculum Vitae, accompanied by a cover letter and a 300 word statement of your views on LGBT rights in Guyana.

E-mail sasod.adm.assist@gmail.com for Terms of Reference.

Applications must be submitted by 20:00hrs (8:00pm) on January 18, 2013 via email only to:

Programme Coordinator, Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD).

Email sasod.coordinator@gmail.com and copied to sasod_guyana@yahoo.com. 

Happy Holidays to All

Press Release: SASOD Child Protection Policy Launched

SASOD Child Protection Policy Launched – Initiative praised by Child Care and Protection Agency, UN and other partners.  

Georgetown – December 14, 2012

In what was deemed a ground-breaking initiative, the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD), yesterday, Thursday, December 13, 2012 launched its Child Protection Policy at Sidewalk Café. At the event, Secretary on the SASOD board of trustees, Zenita Nicholson, stated that the launch of the policy highlights SASOD’s commitment to the protection of children in Guyana. She spoke of reports of abuse and violence against children made to SASOD’s members and partners which propelled the organization towards this initiative. “It is in this vein that we recognized that the organization needs a Child Protection Policy to govern how we operate when our representatives encounter these situations,” she said.  Nicholson stated SASOD envisioned a society where every child has the right to grow and develop to their full potential in a secure, safe, environment, free from poverty and exploitation in their home, community, school and other institutions mandated to work with children.

The feature speaker, Teresa Gaime, Deputy Director of the Child Care and Protection Agency (CPPA) congratulated SASOD on the initiative saying, “child protection, we recognize, is everyone’s business and therefore the Agency wishes to welcome this initiative by SASOD who has really established a policy that would ensure that in their services and interactions with children, they will be handled with care.” She also encouraged other organizations to create a system that would allow for the protection of children.  

UNAIDS Country Coordinator, Roberto Brandt Campos, in his brief remarks also congratulated SASOD as he spoke of civil society organizations being a voice for the voiceless. He highlighted the link between child protection and the reduction of HIV. 

Also in attendance was Executive Director of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Marissa Lowden, who spoke of SASOD’s recent engagement with her organization to collaborate on future activities. She complimented SASOD on the launch of its Child Protection Policy.

Other attendees including members of SASOD echoed their congratulations to the organization and spoke of how proud they were to be a part of the historic occasion.

SASOD in collaboration with Help and Shelter conducted a child protection training last week at Lifeline Counseling Services, another partner of the organization, to train its members and partners on the new policy. SASOD praised Help and Shelter and Child Link for their support in helping to develop the policy.

SASOD’s Child Protection Policy was officially presently to the Child Care and Protection Agency, UNAIDS and other partners present at the event.

SASOD’s Trusteeship Secretary, Zenita Nicholson (right) presents its Child Protection Policy to Deputy Director of the Child Care and Protection Agency, Teresa Gaime (left)

The policy can be accessed online on SASOD’s website at:  http://www.sasod.org.gy/childprotectionpolicy

Launch of SASOD's Child Protection Policy

Opening Remarks by Sir Shridath Ramphal at the showing of the film

‘Call me Kuchu’:    London  - 28 November 2012

EQUAL MEMBERS OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF GOD

Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen.

My first words must be of thanks to Tim Otty for the generosity of his words of introduction.  I have been fortunate to have lived a life in which I was privileged to pursue noble causes like the one that brings us here tonight and in doing so to work with dedicated men and women like Tim.  I learnt that together, against the odds,  we could prevail.  If there is one message I could leave tonight, it is to counsel you that in this matter, too, we shall prevail. 

Not so long ago, a noble spirit of our time, with whom I had worked and prevailed in another cause, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, said in a United Nations context

‘all over the world, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are persecuted. They face violence, torture and criminal sanctions because of how they live and who they love.  We make them doubt  that they too are children of God – and this must be nearly the ultimate blasphemy’.

We make them doubt that they too are children of God !  In his inimical fashion, Desmond Tutu captured  the essence of the wrong we perpetrate upon these persecuted people.  How akin were his sentiments to those that the Anti Slavery Movement in this country turned into their slogan in the 19^th century when they cried out in the name of every slave ‘am I not a man, and a brother’!

The abolitionists were pilloried, but they prevailed.  The abomination was not their campaign, as the plantation owners complained,  but the evil of slavery itself.  The slaves too, every man, woman and child bound in chains, were also ‘children of God’.  The blasphemy was in the system. 

And was it any different in that cause in which I worked with Archbishop Tutu – the struggle against apartheid.  Were not its victims too – almost a whole nation -   also, all children of God?  Human history is replete with these blasphemies.

When the Lord Bishop of Leicester, spoke recently in the House of Lords, in the debate on the ‘Treatment of Homosexual Men and Women in the Developing World’, he mentioned something which touched a special cord within me when he likened that present treatment to the burning of witches in this country.  In my own ancestry, is a line through my mother’s side of the family which goes back to a settler in Barbados who sought his fortunes in Guyana.  His name was Nurse, and he was one of the Nurses who we believe came to Barbados from the new England Colonies as descendants of Rebecca Nurse fleeing the abominations of the witch hunts of Massachusetts, and of Salem in particular.  Rebecca was hanged – though later pardoned for the innocence of being herself.  The hand of evil reaches out beyond our imaginings –and over generations.

Let me add one thing more before I invite you to watch the moving film we shall see. 

It is a reminder that for most of the developing countries of the Commonwealth, the desecration of our fellow citizens began in the law.  The unreformed law of England was transported through criminal codes by imperial masters to far flung outposts of empire.  Starting with the imposition of Macaulay’s Indian Penal Code -  criminalising same- sex relations was to spread throughout the  empire to the point where today 42 of 54 Commonwealth countries have virtually the same legislation enacted almost as a matter of course by colonial administrators – not by the societies they governed. By the time reform came to Britain in 1967 under the influence of the Wolfenden Report, these jurisdictions were free of British control, and the attitudes that had followed the law remained with the law unreformed.   That law is still on our statute books – a relic of empire that has no place in a modern Commonwealth.   As with the abolition of slavery, the decriminalisation of homosexuality in our time must be an act of law. 

The wisdom of Sir John Wolfenden which he urged on Britain in 1957 is of universal application.  I remind you of it:

‘unless a deliberate attempt is made by society, acting through the agency of the law, to equate the sphere of crime with that of sin, there must remain a realm of private morality and immorality which is, In brief and crude terms, not the law’s business.’

That wisdom must now inspire us in the developing countries of the Commonwealth to rid ourselves of this archaic legal inheritance. We are here to call for that decriminalising act of law, and by it an end to the wrong we do to our brothers and sisters -  who are, like us, all members of what Dr Rowan Williams called ‘the commonwealth of God.’

Press Release: Human Rights Day 2012

December 9, 2012

In observance of World Human Rights Day, December 10, the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) stands with all who suffer violations of their human rights and echoes the theme for this year, set by the United Nations (UN) Office for the High Commissioner of Human Rights, which is: "Inclusion and the right to participate in public life." It aims to highlight the rights of all people to be included in decision-making processes and participate in public life. The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, in his Human Rights Day message stated “Everyone has the right to be heard and to shape the decisions that affect their community. This right is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and fully integrated in international law, especially in Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).” Not only has Guyana signed and ratified the ICCPR, it is directly into the Guyana constitution under Article 154A and therefore is part and parcel of the ‘supreme law of the land.’

Every human being is entitled to be treated fairly and equally, but yet in 21^st-century Guyana, archaic laws still exist which criminalize same-sex intimacy and cross-dressing while perpetuating many forms of discrimination and social stigma against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Guyanese. The appointment of a special select parliamentary committee to hold public consultations on these and other key human rights challenges, corporal and capital punishment, present a golden opportunity to emancipate Guyana from these colonial practices. But inclusivity and equality must be our guiding principles as the nation embarks on this process if we are serious about our commitment to human rights for all Guyanese. Public consultations should not be a euphemism for a popularity poll. As Article 13 of the Constitution of Guyana makes clear, “The principal objective of the political system of the State is to establish an inclusionary democracy by providing increasing opportunities for the participation of citizens, and their organisations in the management and decision-making processes of the State, with particular emphasis on those areas of decision-making that directly affect their well-being.” It is the people whose lives these laws directly affect who have the greatest stake in this issue and their voices must be heard and play a central role in this process. That is inclusivity in operation. And given the homophobic nature of Guyanese society, the state has a duty to create the conditions where LGBT Guyanese, their organisations and their allies feel safe and comfortable to come forward and participate meaningfully in this decision-making process, without fear of intimidation, stigma or discrimination. This is the real challenge we face as the process unfolds.

LGBT Guyanese continue to experience rights abuses in their daily lives. Youth continue to suffer homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools by their peers and those supervise them. They are being assaulted and verbally abused while others witness and do nothing to help. Many of their painful stories never make official reports because they fear retaliatory acts and re-victimisation by those who should protect them. Transgender folk continue to be harassed and extorted by the police to perform sexual favours. Discrimination impedes the rights to work, housing and health for many LGBT Guyanese. Our laws offer them no protection, but instead, brand them as unapprehended criminals for their private acts and choice of clothing. This must stop! Human rights are not a privilege; each and every one of us is entitled to them as human beings. We must all be treated fairly. Our rights must be protected, respected and fulfilled. Equal rights for all Guyanese must become a reality, and it is our human duty to speak out until it does.

---

ENDS

Media Contact:

Richard Pitman

Advocacy and Communication Officer: SASOD - Guyana

Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD)

169 Charlotte Street, 

Lacytown, Georgetown

Email: sasod.officer@gmail.com 

Website: http://www.sasod.org.gy

Phone: (592) 225-7283 (O); 600-5124 (C).

Guyana Equality Forum hosts “Walk for Equality” for Human Rights Day

December 7, 2012

Red Thread, Justice Institute Guyana and the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination, on behalf of the Guyana Equality Forum (GEF), all believe in the inherent dignity of each and every human being.

Human Rights Day, observed on December 10, is an opportunity to celebrate human rights, highlight challenges, and advocate for the full enjoyment of all human rights, for everyone, everywhere.

This year, the spotlight is on the rights of all people — women, youth, minorities, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, the poor and marginalised — to make their voices heard in public life and political decision-making processes.

Members of the public are invited to join our “Walk for Equality” with any banners, tee-shirts and posters reflecting support for full equality and human rights of all Guyanese.

The Walk for Equality will take place on Saturday, December 8, 2012. It will start at 15:30 hrs so persons are asked to gather at the assembly point in Parade Ground, Middle Street in good time. The route will take us west along Middle Street, south into Main Street; east into Church Road; south into Avenue of the Republic; continue south into High Street; east into Brickdam; north down Camp Street; west into Middle Street and ending at Parade Ground.

After the walk, representatives of the GEF convening organisations and guest speakers will share their messages for Human Rights Day with the gathering at Parade Ground.

Guyana Equality Forum hosts “Walk for Equality” for Human Rights Day

December 7, 2012

Red Thread, Justice Institute Guyana and the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination, on behalf of the Guyana Equality Forum (GEF), all believe in the inherent dignity of each and every human being.

Human Rights Day, observed on December 10, is an opportunity to celebrate human rights, highlight challenges, and advocate for the full enjoyment of all human rights, for everyone, everywhere.

This year, the spotlight is on the rights of all people — women, youth, minorities, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, the poor and marginalised — to make their voices heard in public life and political decision-making processes.

Members of the public are invited to join our “Walk for Equality” with any banners, tee-shirts and posters reflecting support for full equality and human rights of all Guyanese.

The Walk for Equality will take place on Saturday, December 8, 2012. It will start at 15:30 hrs so persons are asked to gather at the assembly point in Parade Ground, Middle Street in good time. The route will take us west along Middle Street, south into Main Street; east into Church Road; south into Avenue of the Republic; continue south into High Street; east into Brickdam; north down Camp Street; west into Middle Street and ending at Parade Ground.

After the walk, representatives of the GEF convening organisations and guest speakers will share their messages for Human Rights Day with the gathering at Parade Ground.

Guyana Equality Forum hosts “Walk for Equality” for Human Rights Day

December 7, 2012

Red Thread, Justice Institute Guyana and the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination, on behalf of the Guyana Equality Forum (GEF), all believe in the inherent dignity of each and every human being.

Human Rights Day, observed on December 10, is an opportunity to celebrate human rights, highlight challenges, and advocate for the full enjoyment of all human rights, for everyone, everywhere.

This year, the spotlight is on the rights of all people — women, youth, minorities, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, the poor and marginalised — to make their voices heard in public life and political decision-making processes.

Members of the public are invited to join our “Walk for Equality” with any banners, tee-shirts and posters reflecting support for full equality and human rights of all Guyanese.

The Walk for Equality will take place on Saturday, December 8, 2012. It will start at 15:30 hrs so persons are asked to gather at the assembly point in Parade Ground, Middle Street in good time. The route will take us west along Middle Street, south into Main Street; east into Church Road; south into Avenue of the Republic; continue south into High Street; east into Brickdam; north down Camp Street; west into Middle Street and ending at Parade Ground.

After the walk, representatives of the GEF convening organisations and guest speakers will share their messages for Human Rights Day with the gathering at Parade Ground.

National AIDS Committee warns against complacency on WAD 2012 - Stabroek News

AIDS Committee warns against complacency in fight against HIV

Posted By Stabroek staff On December 4, 2010

While the availability of anti-retroviral therapies (ART) has transformed HIV from a killer to a chronic condition, there are no grounds for complacency as such an attitude is most likely to undermine gains made in recent years in the fight against the epidemic, according to the National AIDS Committee (NAC).

In the meantime, the NAC contended that certain conclusions can be drawn from recent trends. The body pointed to "the need for legal and social action to de-criminalize outdated buggery laws and equally outdated religious attitudes to homosexuality; and operationalizing the need for more effective, evidence-based strategies to stop the feminization of HIV.

It added also the need for a resurgence of prevention strategies targeting young people, with an emphasis on relationships and respect as well as sexual and reproductive health.

After almost 30 years the HIV epidemic in the Caribbean has hit something of a plateau with numbers of People Living with HIV (PLHIV) slowly increasing as a result of the dramatic decline in AIDS-related deaths due to availability of ART, the NAC stated in a press release.

The body also pointed out that the most pressing priority under the universal access theme in Guyana must be reduction in new infections and this issue requires the Guyana government to finally face up to needed legal and social reforms, having secured universal access to treatment.

Transforming the virus from a killer to a chronic condition has been possible for an estimated 51% of PLHIV in the Caribbean, and owing to substantial overseas support made available by international funders, Guyana can make the claim of universal access to ARTs for PLHIV in need of them, the NAC noted.
These developments, however, offer no grounds for complacency.

In a recent speech, according to the release, former Surgeon-General of the United States (1982-1989) Dr Charles Everett Koch, also a keen advocate of sex education in schools, identified complacency as the attitude most likely to undermine gains made in recent years  in the fight against HIV.

"This warning is particularly appropriate in the Caribbean which remains the region with the highest incidence of HIV after sub-Saharan Africa," the NAC stated.

Feminization

Meanwhile, in Guyana and the English-speaking Caribbean in general, the areas of concern which ought to dispel any inclination towards complacency remains the feminization of the epidemic, stubborn resistance to introducing legal reforms in areas relating to men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM) and emerging problems with in-school youth.
Heterosexual women are slowly being recognized as a priority category, the NAC noted, while international priorities have in the past year began listing women as a vulnerable sector along with MSM, injecting drug users, and sex workers.

Unlike the other categories, however, no strategic priority is assigned programmatically to addressing women despite the feminization of the epidemic.
Women in Guyana are calculated, according to PANCAP, as 59% of the PLHIV.

Programmatically this is reflected nowhere and the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) programme, much lauded for its effectiveness, is inspired by protection of the unborn child, not the mother as a woman, the NAC observed.

Unlike categories such as security guards, miners, prisoners and blood donors, the real prevalence rate among heterosexual women is hard to find in the Guyana UNGASS Country Report. Of the estimated 58% of infected women a percentage is presumably accounted for by female sex workers whose prevalence rate is estimated at 16.6% (Guyana UNGASS Country Report) or 27% (PANCAP).

And the UNGASS Report has no statistics for condom use in heterosexual relations with a regular partner, "although it contains the most meaningless statistic on the indicator: the percentage of men and women who had more than one partner in the past twelve months and reported use of a condom during the last sexual encounter." (UNGASS 2009)

The vital link between coercive sexual activity within settled partnerships and the extent to which this contributes to new HIV infections can only be speculated upon, the NAC said.

Regular partners

"The fact that the number of women sexually active with more than one partner in the previous year was extremely low at 1.3% (Guyana UNGASS Report 2009) suggests that the great majority of women in Guyana acquire HIV from regular partners," the NAC stated.

The absence of such information compared to that available for small, even micro-sectors, "reinforces the impression that half of the population is virtually invisible to the priority-setting of both international agencies and national governments." Despite the rhetoric, therefore, there is no information in the Guyana UNGASS Report which sheds light on the feminization of HIV in Guyana.

For different reasons official statistics on MSM are equally unsatisfactory, the NAC said. Guyana's official statistics, for example, on the prevalence of HIV among men who have sex with men (MSM) is 19.4%, UNAIDS refers to between 20-32% and PANCAP does not provide a figure.

Sodomy laws

Figures for Jamaica and Trinidad are also estimated to be of a similar high order.  Earlier this year UNAIDS  drew a comparison  between these high prevalence rates in the English-speaking Caribbean and the low prevalence rates in the Dominican Republic (6.1%) and Cuba (1%), deducing that the abolition of sodomy laws in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean has led to reduced prevalence  of HIV among MSM.

A more logical reaction to the disparity between the English-and-Spanish-speaking MSM rates might be that the decriminalizing of homosexual activity allows for more accurate statistics to be collected.

In this case, the NAC said, the speculative rates in the English-speaking Caribbean would seem to be inflated. This suggestion is also supported by the information in the Guyana UNGASS Report 2009, to the effect that MSM have a 95% awareness of the link between condom use and risk of infection, and 75% levels of condom use.

"However, as long as homosexual activity  remains criminalized  and homophobia is fuelled by bigoted religious attitudes, speculation will continue to substitute for evidence in assigning HIV priorities," the NAC asserted.

The body noted also that Guyana, along with the rest of the English-speaking Caribbean, continues to reduce MSM to a technical issue, thereby avoiding taking steps to correct the reality of discrimination on the ground. And international agencies are not prepared to condition their financial assistance on law reform on this issue.
In-school children
The NAC said further that it is alarming to note the significant lowering of the age of first sexual experience reported in the Guyana 2009 UNGASS Country Report for the category of in-school children under the age of 15 years. Moreover, the category also manifested decreased knowledge of HIV prevention.

Article printed from Stabroek News: http://www.stabroeknews.com

URL to article: http://www.stabroeknews.com/2010/archives/12/04/aids-committee-warns-against-complacency-in-fight-against-hiv/

Walk for Equality

                                                    Walk for Equality:

                                        Saturday December 8, 2012 at 15.30 hrs

Red Thread, Justice Institute Guyana, the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination of the Guyana Equality Forum all believe in the inherent dignity of each and every human being.

Human Rights Day, observed on December 10, is an opportunity to celebrate human rights, highlight challenges, and advocate for the full enjoyment of all human rights, for everyone, everywhere.

This year, the spotlight is on the rights of all people — women, youth, minorities, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, the poor and marginalised — to make their voices heard in public life and political decision-making processes.

We invite you to join us on a “Walk for Equality” as an individual or as a member of your organisation. We invite you to bring your banners, tee-shirts and posters reflecting your support for equality and human rights.

The Walk for Equality will take place on Saturday, December 8, 2012. We will start at 15:30hrs so please join us at the assembly point in Parade Ground, Middle Street in good time. The route will take us west along Middle Street, south into Main Street; east into Church Road; south into Avenue of the Republic; continue south into High Street; east into Brickdam; north down Camp Street; west into Middle Street and ending at Parade Ground.

We look forward to your participation and support.