On December 19, was launched the two-day National Dialogue 2022, under the theme «Sustainability of the national response to HIV in terms of coverage, quality and continuity of services», dedicated to World AIDS Day.
The first day of the National Dialogue was attended by experts who presented the results of the 2022 work in the areas of HIV prevention and good practices, access and quality of pharmacotherapy, testing, treatment, care and support. In addition to the results, were discussed challenges, obstacles and future plans.
Participants and speakers included representatives of the Ministry of Health and Justice, the National Health Insurance Company (CNAM), the National Penitentiary Administration, experts, representatives of civil society and others.
On the second day of the Dialogue, one of the speakers was Fomina Tatiana, who is coordinator of the REAct system in the Republic of Moldova. She presented the Cascade of Human Rights Services.
It should be recalled, that in Moldova for the second year, some organizations, that work in the field of HIV prevention with vulnerable population groups, conduct human rights screening in the Electronic Systemof Monitoring on a routine basis. Each client who enters the service undergoes such screening. Based on the results of the screening, a legal consultation or redirection is carried out. And if, a violation of human rights has been detected, the case goes to the reactor, who deals with its documentation and solution.
In 2022, 2,525 people were screened, and 275 said their rights were violated. As a result, 73 cases were placed in REAct and 2 of them proved to be strategically important.
Also were presented good practices by solving cases in 2022.
New challenges were identified, where it is still difficult to solve cases, due to the deep self-stigmatization of beneficiaries.
“I was hospitalized with Covid-19 at the beginning of the year, in an emergency hospital, and a paper with information about HIV status and other was pasted at the back of the hospital bed. This information could be seen by medical personnel and other patients.”
04/08/2022, Serghei, 38 years
Discussions have also focused on ways to strengthen and expand the cascade to cover all organizations working in the area of HIV prevention, which is a big step for detecting and responding to offenses.
On September 16, a meeting was held in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), which was attended by paralegals, lawyers, REAct coordinators and employees who are involved in the project.
South-Eastern Europe Regional TB and HIV Community Network (SEE RCN) is the main implementing partner , which works in partnership with 5 other nongovernmental organizations in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia to provide a wide range of services to key populations, including legal services and services for women.
The main goal of the meeting was, to discuss the work, that was already done, to identify strengths and weaknesses and to develop plans for the implementation of the project in the near future.
As a result of the discussion, it turned out that the most common violation of human rights is the denial of medical services.
This point is especially acute in Montenegro, since the country is in a transition to a new healthcare system (there are interruptions in ARVT and TSO, which are still being addressed by NGOs, but more cases are expected).
The problem of discrimination against LGBTIQ people is very tense in Serbia, at the state level, and the problem of disclosing the status of SW is also relevant in the press.
In Albania the main problem is also the attitude of society towards the LGBTIQ community.
And the most of the perpetrators are employed in the healthcare or individuals.
During the discussion of the work of the base itself, decisions were made on the possibility of making cases in the mother tongue of the reactor, which will greatly simplify the work, since at the moment the coordinators and mentors make cases, translating them into English.
Were corrected some errors in the case filling.
And the DHIS2 mobile application was also tested.
The meeting was attended by a REAct coordinator from the Republic of Moldova, where the project is led by “Positive Initiative”. They introduced a multi-level approach of working with cases. From detection of violations, through screening in an electronic monitoring system, to documentation and response.
“Since 2017, the Electronic Monitoring System has been operating in Moldova, which is software for collecting and processing data on goods and services provided within harm reduction and HIV prevention projects. More than 30 thousand beneficiaries are registered in the system. Thus, the screening of violation of human rights is a simple but working tool for their detection. It is held regularly, once every 6 months for each beneficiary who enters the service. In the event that the client claims that he has experienced discrimination and / or violation of rights over the past 6 months, he is redirected to the organization’s reactor” – says Fomina Tatiana, React Coordinator in Moldova.
At the end of the meeting, all representatives of organizations representing REAct in the Balkan region, developed a plan for the dissemination of information materials about the REAct project (business cards and posters). Have been identified key institutions and organizations through which this can be done.
These are organizations partners, friendly medical centers, places of concentration of key groups, distribution of business cards together with handouts.Posters in public institutions such as the police, clinics and NGOs.
HIV-positive people constantly face discrimination: they are denied employment, they are not treated on an equal basis with other people, their status is disclosed to third parties, and they are not even allowed to visit camp sites. All this is completely illegal and should be challenged in higher instances or in court.
The PLHIV client is registered with the AIDS Center, married, has 2 children. He and his wife came to the district clinic of the city of XXX to the dentist because both spouses had problems with their teeth. After standing in line for 1 hour and getting an appointment with a doctor, they, as law-abiding citizens, informed the dentist that they had HIV infection. To which the dentist immediately categorically refused to perform dental manipulations. The client and his wife explained to him that they were taking ART and the risk of infection was minimal, but the doctor still refused.
Clients turned to the reactor to assist in this situation. The reactor, after consulting with the infectious disease doctor, called the infectious disease doctor at the family polyclinic of the city of XXX. The infectious disease specialist promised to solve this problem in the near future.
Clients called to thank the doctor and said that the problem was solved positively.
Having gained the freedom after being in prison, a person usually comes out depressed. He seems to be happy, but does not understand what to do with his life now: where to live and work? Finding a job has always been a difficult task. And in the current circumstances, even more.
The client (a former prisoner) worked for the company as the director’s personal driver. After the director found out that the client was serving a sentence in prison for drug use, he asked him to write a letter of resignation on his own, because he did not want former prisoners working in his company, especially those serving sentences for drug use. Otherwise, if the client does not do it himself, the director will still find a reason for dismissal. The client was forced to quit.
The client was asked to write an application to the director. But the client refused, saying that if the director decided, he would still find a reason to fire him.
HIV-related stigma permeates all areas of life of people living with HIV. Stigma puts a stigma: these people are different, it’s a shame. Stigma manifests itself in discriminating, and sometimes violently rude attitude towards people living with HIV, their families and everyone else affected by the HIV epidemic
A PLHIV client came to his district polyclinic in District XXX for ART. There was a long line in the office of the infectious disease specialist. The client stood in the line. After waiting for a total of 30 minutes and seeing that the queue was not moving, he opened the door and made a remark that for half an hour they were accepting one patient, to what the nurse began to shout that he (the client) could wait. The client turned around and left.
The REActor and the client came to the head doctor with a complaint about the nurse. The head doctor called the nurse and reprimanded her warning that this would not happen again in the future.
The topic of homosexuality in Uzbekistan remains completely closed in the media and public discussions. Sexual contact between men is a criminal offense in this country and is punishable by imprisonment for up to three years.
A client (MSM) and his partner were beaten by five people near a nightclub. Police officers appeared from somewhere and managed to detain only two attackers, the rest managed to escape. After that, the police officers began to find out the reason for the beating in order to draw up a protocol. The attackers (the perpetrators of the fight) told the employees that they were beating “fags”. After that, the police released the perpetrators and began to intimidate the victims that they would take them for examination and put them in jail for sodomy. The client and his friend were forced to come to terms with the prejudice against them because of their homosexuality.
The client and his friend were asked to write a statement for beating on the street and against law enforcement officers for releasing the perpetrators and intimidating the victims. The client and a friend refused, fearing publicity and persecution by law enforcement.
Article 120
According to some reports, this article is rarely applied, usually to specific people. However, the fact of the presence of a criminal article for sodomy is a tool of blackmail and extortion against homosexual men.
Many people become excluded from society not once, but twice. First they are repulsed because of their HIV status and then because because of their alleged behavior, which led them to become HIV positive.
The client, while being treated at a specialized infectious diseases hospital, reported that there was a conflict between her and the chief doctor of the hospital. The chief doctor allowed himself incorrect behavior towards the patient, reproaching her for asking unnecessary questions, and that the patient considered herself too smart. Although the patient’s complaint was that her attending physician was not competent in matters of treatment, and also could not properly prescribe treatment. The chief doctor wanted to discharge the patient ahead of time without reason, dismissively treating the patient because of her HIV status.
Client, received advices on treatment, PLHIV rights, and also filed complaints with the Ministry of Health, the district health department and the Republican AIDS Center. The Issue was resolved. the patient continues his treatment.
Disclosure of medical secrecy is the communication of such information to at least one person (with the exception of the patient himself, his legal representatives or medical staff involved in the treatment of this patient). At the same time, it does not matter to whom they became known: to an acquaintance, a colleague of the victim or to outsiders.
A PLHIV client met with friends in a cafe on the occasion of his birthday. Two friends (two brothers neighbors) of the client did not come to the meeting. When he asked why they were not there, one of those present secretly said, that they called recently and said that a nurse had come and was looking for a client at the place of residence. She did not find the client at home, she went to his neighbors (friends) and when asked why she is looking for him, the nurse told that the client was registered with the AIDS center an d he had to undergo a mandatory medical examination, and after that the brothers, worried about their health and their loved ones, decided not to go for a client’s birthday.
The reactor conducted a conversation with a nurse and neighbors (friends of the client). It turned out that the nurse was an intern at the medical school and did not know all the nuances. Friends were explained and told about life with HIV (transmission paths, non-transmission paths and prevention).
Many cases of abuse of power by state executive authorities remain unpunished, as clients fear for their lives and for revenge by law enforcement.
The client was returning home with a friend. Police officers tied them up near the house and took them in handcuffs to the police department, where they were beaten and “coerced confessions” for a crime they had not committed. They were simply released 24 hours later, saying that they were lucky, that they have detained the real criminals. As it turned out later, there was a theft in their house, and they were the first to be under suspicion.
The client and his friend were asked to write a statement for illegal arrest. But they refused, fearing persecution by law enforcement
Documentation problems are often a critical condition and vulnerability of sex workers to human rights violations and legal insecurity.
In 40% of cases reporting the detention of sex workers, which were recorded by REAct, the need for identification was voiced as a pretext for detention, since the victims of the violations did not have a passport of a citizen of the Republic of Uzbekistan. According to clients, in three cases, the passport was confiscated by the police for the purpose of blackmail and extortion of money.
Milana (name changed) and four of her friends were detained by law enforcement agencies in the evening on the street in the *** area. During the detention, there were insults from the police. Since the girls did not have passports, they were taken to the police department to find out their identity. There they were kept until the morning and only in the morning were escorted to a skin care dispensary for testing for STIs and HIV. Only after passing tests a day later they were released.
The girls refuse to write a complaint against the employees of the police department for fear of persecution. The case was documented in REACT in August 2021 in Uzbekistan
It is important to note that officers of the internal affairs agencies do not have the right to take a passport from citizens, except when there are grounds to suspect that the passport is forged. Confiscation of a passport is an official offence and, where there are signs of extortion, an official offence. When the passport was confiscated by internal affairs officers, there were grounds for reporting the circumstances to the Prosecutor’s Office.
The client and two friends were detained in the evening **.06.2021 under the pretext of violating the curfew at 23:00 by a district police officer in the area *** on the street along the road, they were escorted to the district police station, where they wrote an explanatory note. The district police officer took the passports and kept them there for two hours and threatened to send them to the main department of Internal Affairs of the city of Tashkent, demanded money for the return of the passport and that they would be released. As a result, the girls had to pay off.
The girls refuse to write a complaint against the police department officers for fear of persecution. The case was documented in REACT in July 2021 in Uzbekistan.
A passport of a citizen of the Republic of Uzbekistan, a residence permit in the Republic of Uzbekistan for a foreigner and a stateless person, as well as a new national driver’s license are identity documents in the Republic of Uzbekistan. There is no requirement in the legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan to always carry identity documents with you. Moreover, the obligation of a citizen to carefully keep a passport can be interpreted as the obligation to keep a passport in a safe place, for example at home, and not always carry it with you.
The absence of documents from a person in itself is not an offense or a reason for delivery or detention. However, Article 17 of the Law on Internal Affairs No. LUR-40707 of September 16, 2016 empowers employees of the Department of Internal Affairs to check identity documents from citizens in the exercise of their official duties. Article 16 of the Law on Internal Affairs lists the broad responsibilities of police officers, including the duty to ensure the safety of citizens in public places and the prevention of crimes. St. 194 The Administrative Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan establishes the composition of an offense for failure to comply with the legal requirements of an employee of the internal affairs bodies to present documents for verification. Interpretation of Articles 16 and 17 of the Law on Internal Affairs, as well as Article 194 of the Administrative Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan indicates that if a citizen has documents with him, he is obliged to present them to an employee of the Department of Internal Affairs.
If there is no ID, then there is no obligation to show the ID. However, in the event of suspicion of an offence, an officer of the Department of Internal Affairs may make an appearance or administrative detention for the purpose of drawing up a report and establishing identity. In this regard, it may be recommended to carry a new type of driving licence or at least a photocopy of a passport, if the permanent carrying of a passport in the opinion of a citizen is contrary to the obligation to keep a passport with care.
In two other cases, the lack of a passport (due to loss or theft) acts as a barrier to claim the rights and seek assistance from law enforcement authorities.
On June 22-23, a training was held on “Reducing Barriers Related to Violation of Human Rights (ReAct)”, in Tashkent, for current and future REACTORs that help people living with HIV and vulnerable groups overcome legal barriers to accessing services regarding prevention and treatment of HIV / AIDS with the participation of regional representatives of the organization (from Samarkand, Bukhara, Fergana and Namangan regions).
Goal of the training: Expand the current assistance to people living with HIV and members of vulnerable groups to overcome legal barriers to accessing HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment services.
The lead expert of the training is the Regional REACT Coordinator for Eastern Europe and Central Asia Victoria Kalyniuk from the Alliance for Public Health. Theoretical lectures, group discussions, practical session on working with the REACT tool are geared toward increasing the knowledge, apprehension and competencies of outreach workers, peer consultants from Tashkent and other regions of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
On June 22, the official opening of the seminar began with a welcoming speech by the representative, they talked about advanced training, experience in Uzbekistan under the program “Reducing Barriers Encountered with Violation of Human Rights (ReAct)”. The expectations of the participants were heard and exceeded. At the end of the welcoming part, the team of trainers wished us a further progenitive workshop.
Therefore, a presentation was held on the review of the collected statistics of the community of rights for 2021-2022 in Uzbekistan, as well as it was avowed that it was possible to document through the REAct program.
After a short coffee break, the situation with the country’s legislation regarding PLHIV and key groups in Uzbekistan was described from top to bottom. A small discussion was held during which the situation regarding legislation in various regions of the country was analyzed, the participants of the training shared information with regard to their regions, as well as their vision of what can be done to envigorate these problems and in which direction it is worth moving.
The next in turn was the session, during which the training participants were told about the principles of working with the REAct system. The method of documenting cases in the system was clearly and markedly explained.
Before the coffee break, the participants were divided into groups and futhermore all the details about the upcoming practical group session were announced to them. After that, the participants could discuss the implementation of their task during a coffee break. During the session, the members of the groups had an active discussion of situations of human rights violations by various perpetrators. Subsequent to this each group related the situations known to them according to the task, and the subtle nuances of each of the situations described by the participants were analyzed during the general discussion.
The second day strated with a session on how to react to a violation of human rights, different types of cases were analyzed, and there were explained the points related to the status of the case in the REAct database.
Besides, a brainstorm was also held, during which the participants of the training were able to share which authorities can be contacted in various cases that have occurred with clients and where the necessary services can be obtained.
After that, a role-playing game was held, during which the situation of the client’s appeal to the outreach worker was staged. Running through the results of this session, a discussion was held, during which there were analyzed the frequently encountered problems when clients contacted outreach workers, and the important points of presentation to the client and communication by the outreach worker were clarified.
At the end of the training, the participants expressed their feelings and shared their opinions about the training and asked multiple questions that they had left unsettled after the training.
In 2020-2021, 480 complaints were registered in the REAct system in Uzbekistan about violations of rights, 160 of which were through calls to the hotline.
The report gives account of the main findings based on the results of studying the information received from the KPs on issues of violations of their rights as well as regarding manifested violence by both individuals and organizations of various levels and profiles of activity. The results of the study and the elaborated recommendations can be used by both individuals and organizations to emerge and implement support measures for vulnerable groups to counter violations of their rights, harassment and ferocity.
The pilot stage of the hotline in the Republic of Uzbekistan cropped up since October 2021 to March 2022. Hotline numbers were mainly focused on sustaining vulnerable groups of the population, such as: people living with HIV, users of psychoactive substances (PS), including injecting and non-injecting drugs, persons providing sexual services for compensation, trans* people, men, having sexual relations with men.
The absolute-majority of women who applied for support are between the ages of 19 and 35 years old – thus representing 80% of the group. Every fifth is in the age range from 36 to 55 years. Only 1% of women victims of violence who called the hotline indicated their age as 16-18 years.
In 2020-2021, there were 758 inquiries documented in the REAct system in Tajikistan, 255 of them from women suffering from stigma, discrimination and domestic violence. That is every third case registered by REActors in Tajikistan. These statistics once again confirm the fact that the situation of women, especially those representing vulnerable populations, in Tajikistan is still quite challenging.
Today, we would like to share one of such cases as it not only shows the limit to which a woman can be pushed, but also describes how support can be provided effectively in such cases.
“Sometimes women are insulted and beaten for years,” says Farishtamokh Gulova, one of the consultants. “They don’t want to break up the family and leave children without their father. Besides, it is often difficult to divide the joint property. However, sooner or later it all ends and victims find the strength to call us. We try to help everybody as we truly believe that there is always a solution.”
Farishtamokh Gulova, National Coordinator of the REAct system in Tajikistan
Farishtamokh Gulova, National Coordinator of the REAct system in Tajikistan
On 25 February 2022, there was a call to the hotline 8885. Farishtamokh answered the call. Nigora (name has been changed) was stressed and crying desperately. She said that she had a conflict with her relatives at home, where she left her five-month-old breastfeeding baby. Her voice was trembling from cold, she was in the street. The woman hung up, but a passer-by picked up the phone and said that she was standing near the building of the General Prosecutor’s Office. She was undressed, doused with gasoline and wanted to set herself on fire.
The information that the woman was next to the General Prosecutor’s Office helped Farishtamokh to quickly find a solution. She called the police and asked the young man who called her to stay with the woman. Another woman approached them on the street and covered Nigora with her coat. They took her to the shelter of the building. The guards of the General Prosecutor’s Office asked them to leave. However, they stayed as they saw how desperate the young woman was.
We need to help her
When she came to the venue, Farishtamokh asked the young woman to calm down. They took away her lighter and called the ambulance. Farishtamokh realized that she had to focus on cooperating with the doctors to take the woman to the hospital and help her. In the hospital, Nigora took a shower and stayed for the night.
It turned out that she had two small children, her husband was a migrant and she lived with her mother-in-law. The older woman insulted and humiliated her daughter-in-law all the time. She did not like it that the young woman did not work (as she was taking care of her breastfeeding baby and had not fully recovered from her difficult childbirth). The mother-in-law threatened to kick the young woman out of her house and started beating her. As Nigora does not have a job, she did not have any money and was fully dependent on her mother-in-law, which allowed the woman to fully control her daughter-in-law and put emotional pressure on her.
Farishtamokh offered the young woman to stay in theCaravan of Hopeshelter for a while. Nigora agreed, but first she had to make sure her children were back with her. At her own initiative, Farishtamokh called the local Committee for Women and Familyin Dushanbe. Consultants from the NGO “Equal Opportunities” already worked with this committee, so now they organized provision of the required support to the young woman. First, they found Nigora’s parents, took the baby from her mother-in-law and brought it to Nigora. Her health and psychosocial situation improved and she did not want to commit suicide anymore.
Farishtamokh took Nigora’s passport and drafted a complaint on her behalf to the Committee for Women and Family at the local executive body (khukumat). Then the consultant accompanied with the committee’s representative and the head of mahalla (local community – REACT), deputy Sayora Ashrapova, went to visit Nigora’s parents. The deputy talked to her parents, first of all to her father, and tried to explain what happened and convince them that the family should support their daughters in any situation, under any circumstances. However, her father was adamantly opposed to Nigora coming back to her parents’ house. They had to choose a different approach.
The consultants waited for the young woman to fully recover. She was enrolled in a short-time baking coursein the Caravan of Hope shelter where she stayed during her rehabilitation. There, Nigora met other victims of domestic violence. She worked with a psychologist and was able to recover.
In March, consultants went to her mother-in-law’s house with representatives of khukumat, mahalli, and local Committee for Women and Family to talk to her. She explained that with her actions the woman broke the law and according to the new regulations* she could bear administrative and even criminal responsibility. This conversation had a positive impact on the older woman’s behavior and her attitude to Nigora.
Instructions to the Committee on the Rights of Women and Families
State program for the prevention of domestic violence in the Republic of Tajikistan for 2014-2023
Regaining strength to find yourself… again
As a result, Nigora went back to her husband’s house. She learned to bake and was now a very good cook, selling her own cakes. She started making some money, at the same time taking care of her children. Nigora still receives support. The deputy and the local Committee for Women and Family take care of her family as according to the new government resolution and the order on reinforcing the role of the family, all families are to be protected and preserved. Farishtamokh continues providing consultations to the young woman. She is happy that Nigora has changed and realized that marriage is not an easy thing. She was shown another side of the life and was able to see that her life is more than she used to think. They also work with Nigora’s mother-in-law, who is now happy with the young woman.
“Out hotline now only documents the cases but also cooperates with other government agencies and civil society activists so that the victims of domestic violence, in particular women, could build their potential, acquire new skills and strengthen their role in the family,”
tells Farishtamokh
As a reminder, you can report a case of violation of your rightsand get support using REAct. Describe the details of the situation that happened to you, how and when your rights were violated, and the reactor will contact you to help solve the problem.
Since 2020, 734 cases have been documented in the REAct system, of which 327 are related to violations of the rights of people who use drugs. But there are barriers to accessing the buprenorphine treatment program launched in the Republic of Moldova in 2018. And yet, to date, 45 cases have been registered in the system, which describe cases of restricting patients’ access to it, it is especially difficult for prisoners to fight for their rights. At almost every meeting of NGOs with representatives of the National Penitentiary Administration, the staff of the “Positive Initiative” received a positive answer on the question about the availability of buprenorphine at substitution therapy sites in prisons. Buprenorphine is available in every penitentiary. However, in practice, everything turned out to be not so simple.
In one of the prisons, the reactor documented the case:
The client is in prison where he is on methadone substitution therapy, as he is a drug addict. Every day the client feels unwell because methadone quickly loses its properties. The client wants to switch to the buprenorphine program, but the administration says that there is no such program in this penitentiary institution. Therefore, the client turned to us with a complaint to help him solve this problem.
Alexander (reactor)
The client has been fighting his drug addiction since 2018 through a methadone substitution therapy program.
Currently, the client is in a penitentiary institution (PI), where this program is also being implemented. But the program is being implemented, with flagrant violations, according to the client.
The medical worker, directly responsible for the process of issuing methadone, works once every 4 days. The drug is poured into open containers 4 days in advance, and then stored in open containers in a safe. No one can guarantee the fact that nothing (water or other substances) is added to open methadone containers. Over the days, following the day of the drug distribution, other shifts of workers give it out. The client, as well as other prisoners receiving methadone in this PI, notes atypical symptoms a few hours after taking the drug – they feel unwell.
The client repeatedly informed the administration of the PI about this situation, but there was no response to his statements. The client became desperate and expressed a desire to switch from methadone substitution therapy to buprenorphine treatment. The client’s appeals to the PI medical staff with statements about the desire to change the substitution therapy program also remained unanswered, the client only received an excuse that there was no such program in this PI.
The client addressed an NGO employee who is also a reactor. The reactor documented the current situation in detail and got involved in resolving the current difficult situation.
A complaint was made to the head of the medical department of the National Penitentiary Administration, which was immediately responded to.
As a result of the work done, the client was successfully transferred from one substitution therapy program to another, more suitable, based on the current conditions of his life. Taking medications under the new program, the client feels much better physically and much more mentally confident – he no longer has doubts about the quality and composition of the therapy he takes.
Among the other topics presented within the forum, there was also introduced a case from Moldova, regarding a patient who fought for his rights to access the HIV prevention and treatment services using the REAct electronic system. On the strength of the collaboration of the coordinating team of the National HIV Program and partnership organizations with the Chief Narcologist of Moldova there was set up the opening of a substitution therapy point in Orhei city.
By the case of the above mentioned example, it was presented how to systematically and comprehensively affect the environment of legacy of the whole country in order to reduce legal boundaries in reference to the vital health services.
Nikolay, the patient involved in the aforementioned example, was invited to the forum along with Alexander, the reactor of the happening situation, who documented the case and was the driving force in his decision.
We have collected signatures, wrote letters, but even the all-out effort we made nothing worked… At the beginning of 2020, I found out that a parajurist just started working in our city, so I decided to give it one last shot and expound him upon the problem, even tough many had already given up and could not imagine that another attempt could make it over.
Nikolay, client of the OST program in Orhei
During the outreach work in Orhei city, several people, including Nikolai, informed me about the problem regarding the OST site, or rather, about its absence and inconvenience that this absence leads to.
Analyzing the stories, I flagged obvious elements of a violation of the rights of people who take drugs. Although at the first glance it seems that this is just a medical problem that requires as little as social support, in fact, in this situation, there is a clearly visible sign of violation of the right to health. In consequence, this problem can be puzzled out solely by connecting the levers of political influence.
For that reason, I decided that the already stated case should be entered into the REACT online system (I did it right on the spot from the phone), so that the coordinator and lawyer in Chisinau could immediately cast a look on this case online and get involved into solving the problem.
Alexander, Paralegal and REACTor at NGO “Positive Initiative”
Alexander, the parajurist declared that this means that through education and training, he gained basic knowledge about human rights, which allows him to determine which human rights are violated, whether a person is stigmatized or discriminated against to any grounds. He can also provide primary legal advice, help a person with the drafting of documents setting, complaints, reports to the police, accompany the client to law enforcement agencies or mediate between the parties to the conflict. In situations when he has lacks concerning his competencies, he requests the involvement of a professional lawyer through REACT.
It is important to mention that beside the training education of the parajurists, it is critical as well to qualify the members of the community, for the reason that they can not always identify that their rights are being violated, or that certain actions of the police are unacceptable. In such instances clients do not even seek for help, because they do not know that their rights have been mistreated.
Often manifestations of stigma and discrimination, especially in public institutions, whether medical or social institutions, can be effectively neutralized at the local level, I mean at the level of this institution. Stigma takes root in an unspoken generally accepted policy, a norm of behavior that subordinates practice, but the authorities do not stop. Therefore, in order to eradicate stigma and discrimination, actions are required in two directions: trainings for ordinary employees and conversations with the head of this institution in order to change the policies of the institution.
Ruslan Poverga, director of NGO “Positive Initiative”
I am grateful to Alexander and the whole team that worked on my case, and as a whole working over the incidents of everyone who needed substitution therapy in Orhei city! Not only has my problem been solved, I was also lucky enough to visit such a wonderful city as Istanbul.
I am quiet sure I could never been able to visit this amazing city if not this chance.
Starting from October 2021, two Central Asian countries launched a hotline to provide legal consultations and services in cases of human rights violations, discrimination and domestic violence. The initiative was implemented as part of the C19RM component of the regional #SoS_project and was planned as an additional tool to reach a wider range of clients who can receive the services offered by REAct.
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the work of civil society organizations and required alternative solutions to ensure uninterrupted provision of services for key populations. REActors working in the countries of the region reported that due to quarantine restrictions, many clients were not able to come to the offices of CSOs to talk to REActors, report violations of their rights and receive legal advice. Moreover, completely new types of violations were reported that did not exist before the COVID-19 pandemic, such as the detention of people who inject drugs who violated curfew or barriers in accessing antiretroviral or opioid substitution therapy due to checkpoints and movement restrictions during the lockdown.
In order to effectively deal with these challenges and continue working in an emergency situation, it was decided to launch a hotline for remote consultations. REActors, who continued documenting human rights violations within their outreach activities, now did it by phone, without leaving their home or office and not exposing themselves to the risk of coronavirus.
Hotline number in Tajikistan:
8885
Номер горячей линии в Узбекистане:
+998 (55) 503 06 00
Besides, when advertising and promoting the new hotline, a special focus is made on bringing information to women from key populations. After all, women are more vulnerable to domestic violence (which certainly escalates with stress, quarantine and pandemic) and other violations of their basic rights. In addition, due to widespread bias, stigma and discrimination, women are often embarrassed to visit organizations offering services for PLWH and key populations. We hope that the newly established telephone communication channel with REActors will help to build a stronger connection with women from key populations and provide them with quality and timely support in cases when their rights are violated or when they suffer from domestic violence.
Information about the launch of the new hotline is distributed through leaflets and posters in places most often visited by our potential clients.
On December 22, 2020, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection issued an order of special significance, which guarantees people with HIV-positive status the adoption and guardianship right. It is now illegal to refuse a person to become a foster parent, guardian or caregiver on the grounds that they are living with HIV. This is an important victory in the process of eliminating discrimination in our society and ensuring the right of every person to a family, to a happy life, regardless of their HIV status.
“The policy pursued by the ministry is based on the principle of non-discrimination. No one should be discriminated against, regardless of status, gender or health conditions. Everyone has the right to health, education, family, and work. We must consolidate such a society in the Republic of Moldova. I thank the P.A. “Positive Initiative” team for their cooperation and joint work, as a result of which the rights of people with a positive HIV status are respected,” said Viorica Dumbraveanu, Minister of Health, Labor and Social Protection.
Who and how made this possible?
An assessment of a person’s possibility of adoption is carried out, among other things, on the basis of a medical certificate. Despite the fact that in 2013 Government Decree No. 512/2003 “On the approval of the List of medical contraindications for persons desiring to adopt children” was repealed and these criteria should no longer be an obstacle, a gap appeared in the legislation and practice reflected a completely unsatisfactory situation, without significant changes.
In 2020 P.A. “Positive Initiative”, together with partner organizations, within the framework of the regional #SoS_project actively implemented the REAct system in Moldova, which is an online tool for recording violations of the rights of key populations vulnerable to HIV and tuberculosis. During the year, there were 5 cases in the REAct system when HIV-positive people in Moldova were refused to adopt because of their HIV status. Also, the answers we received from the guardianship authorities of the municipalities of Chisinau, Balti and Cahul confirmed that HIV-positive status in practice is still considered a contraindication for adoption and HIV-positive people are still denied adoption and guardianship.
Aliona*
I am the guardian of a minor child. Due to illness (tuberculosis) I was sent for treatment. There are no close relatives – the child was taken to the orphanage. After discharge, there was a problem with the fact that I was denied further custody of the child due to a positive HIV status.
This led to a dialogue between representatives of P.A. “Positive Initiative” and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection in the framework of the National Campaign “Undetectable = Untransmittable” to combat the HIV / AIDS epidemic, as a result of which they came to the conclusion that the rights to adoption and guardianship should be guaranteed for HIV-positive people. Now this right has become a reality.
“This is a huge achievement, I am very pleased that the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection has approved this order. I hope and believe that as a result of this change, more children will grow up and be brought up in a family, and not in institutions and temporary accommodation centers,” said Andrei Lungu, P.A. “Positive Initiative”.
Note:
In 2020, 235 appeals were registered in the Republic of Moldova in connection with the violation of the rights of people living with HIV and members of risk groups.
