Author: velyunsky

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From individual to strategic cases: ENPUD and REAct work together to protect the rights of key populations

Post author By velyunsky
Post date November 16, 2022

This year, another important player, the Eurasian Network of People Who Use Drugs (ENPUD), joined the REAct human rights partners. Founded in February 2010, the organization consists of over 200 members from 12 countries and has extensive experience in advocating for the rights and freedoms of key populations, community mobilization, combating stigma and criminalization in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA).

Responding to the needs of people who use psychoactive substances and in cooperation with national organizations and groups led by the Communities, in 2020, the ENPUD Treatment Expert Council was created, which includes delegated representatives of the Community of countries Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan and Ukraine. Thanks to the participation of the Community in the SoS 2.0 Regional Project, the ENPUD Expert Group on Drug Policy was established in 2022, which today includes 4 countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova and Ukraine.

The purpose of this cooperation is to develop the collaboration of national partners and regional networks by building an effective advocacy component of REAct’s work. For this, the base of this tool was maximally adapted to the needs of ENPUD, and now, in the event of a strategic case for protecting the rights of people who use drugs at the national level, it will also be promptly taken into consideration by the Network team.

“Restoration of rights and punishment of those responsible for their violation is the key task of the ENPUD community on the way to the humanization of drug policy in the EECA region.” – says Olga Belyaeva, Network Coordinator. “Repression destroyed the legitimate right to privacy, freedom of movement, the right to work and meaningful participation in the life of our countries. Each court session should become an advocacy platform for the promotion of humane drug policy. To this end, we have already developed a Positional appeal to the drug control officers of the EECA countries, and the key goals of the Network for the next three years are outlined in the ENPUD Strategic Plan. We have the unique knowledge, skills and strength to support the protection of the rights of people who use psychoactive substances. Therefore, if a REActor in your country hears that a person says: “I really want to be restored to my rights, and the perpetrators get what they deserve, and for this I am ready to go to the end” is our case”.

The list of the countries where ENPUD will work include: Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Ukraine.

“We united to help each other so that our voice could be even more heard in the EECA countries. People who use drugs have all human rights and deserve recognition and respect. And use should not be a reason for punishment or a restriction of rights.” – shares Victoria Kalyniuk, REAct Coordinator in EECA region. “Thanks to this organic collaboration, we can now share cases, redirect, collaborate, conduct joint advocacy events. And REAct is a unique, powerful platform for such collaborative communication and support for both national partners and regional networks.”

ECOM: Manual on monitoring and documentation of LGBTQ human rights violations

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Key achievements and future plans: REActors present their activities on a high-level event in Georgia

Post author By velyunsky
Post date November 8, 2022

On October 31, in Tbilisi the training “COVID-19 and monkey pox, infection management” was held by the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health, Georgia. Among other participants, event was attended by representatives of the REAct team of “Georgian Harm Reduction Network” (the main implementing partner, which works in partnership with 17 other nongovernmental organizations to provide a wide range of services to key populations, including legal services and services for women), as well as partner organizations “Equality Movement”, “Tanadgoma”, “Identoba”.

Besides the attention to the infection diseases and epidemics, the part of the training was dedicated to the REAct implementation in country. In particular, reports on the first half of 2022 and 2021 with the full data on total number of registered cases and its status, positively solved case numbers. So, in 2021, 633 peopleturned to REActors for help. 46% of them are sex workers.

Also, challenges that REactors face at this moment were named (by the end of 2021, they work in 7 cities: Kutaisi, Samtredia, Gori, Ozergeti, Batumi, Rustavi, Tbilisi), key achievements and future plans.

“Absolutely, the meeting was really important, to share the outcomes and results of the REAct implementation in Georgia, to discuss the ways with the community and partner organizations we collaborate with and how to fight against the issues that we face and integrate them into 2023 REAct action plan.” – said Gvantsa Chagunava, REAct Monitoring and Evaluation Manager, GHRN.

At the end of the training, social campaign to fight stigma and discrimination and short video on Project in Georgia were presented by the REActors team.

Nothing Personal, Just Prejudice: Complaint to Director of Clinic in North Macedonia

Post author By velyunsky
Post date November 3, 2022

Nothing personal, just certain prejudices

Nowadays, North Macedonia is a country with low prevalence and concentrated epidemic of HIV. However, the number of cases is increasing, the percentage of people, living with HIV who are aware of their status, is around 60 %, which is way below the goal set by the United Nations. There is still no research on stigma index, but if one is to evaluate the media reporting on the matter of HIV, we can conclude that there is a high level of stigma and discrimination as well. What to do if your status has been revealed and should you react or face it alone in silence?

Tittle-tattle with a social impact

A person employed in one of the university clinics in the country did an HIV test in the laboratory, where he got a positive result. The test result of the HIV test must be confirmed and assessed by a doctor, however very shortly after that, he realized that the information about his HIV status has been shared with most of his colleagues. It was spread around the clinic as a gossip and violated his right to privacy. What’s more, positive results from viral markers had already been entered into the medical system, although, according to Protocol until confirmatory tests were done at the University Clinic for Infectious Diseases and Febrile Conditions/Institute of Public Health, the results cannot be considered confirmed and no diagnosis must be entered in the patient’s medical record.

Flagrant violation of privacy

Some of his colleagues immediately changed their attitude towards him, openly letting him know that they no longer wanted to work with him, because they were afraid that he would transmit the virus to them somehow and that he was a danger. He faced rejection from certain colleagues, humiliation and avoidance. He was extremely surprised that as medical staff, his colleagues were not aware of the way of the HIV transmission. He immediately spoke openly with some of them and tried to explain that there is absolutely no way that it can be transmitted through air, touch, use on the same toilet, cutlery, equipment, etc. And that there really is no potential danger of them getting HIV just because they work in the same workplace, nor that there is any danger in relation to patients receiving health services from his side. His efforts were unsuccessful and certain colleagues continued to behave rudely and humiliatingly with the intention of forcing him to quit his job.

The patient’s rights were also violated in relation to the release of a professional secret, that is, even though he was an employee, he, as a patient, requested a health service: HIV testing within the Clinic, which violated his rights to health care and he faced discrimination as well. In his case, the results of the HIV test were shared with almost all of his colleagues, which is a flagrant violation of privacy and the duty of professional secrecy by the doctor who processed his HIV test data. And all this, because it is about the HIV (a type of health condition about which his colleagues apparently have no knowledge, only prejudices) they assumed that once he was HIV positive, he must be a homosexual as well.

Immediate REAction and positive outcome

The Association for the support of People Living with HIV “Stronger Together”, Skopje, heard about this case and decided to take a control on it. Its representatives prepared a letter, that was sent to the Director of the clinic, who was understanding and very professional. After, some of the colleagues were called to a meeting with him, where they were informed about all the aspects mentioned in the letter (rights of workers, the obligation of non-discrimination in the workspace and the modern aspects of the HIV, including the undetectability = untransmittable).

As a result of the letter and the director’s actions, after one month of returning to the work environment, the person reported no stigma and unequal treatment from colleagues and employers. The client still works in the university clinic.

Lawyer’s comments

1. Is a disclosure of status a crime in the North Macedonia? What punishment would people receive if the victim would go to the court?

– The Criminal Code does not contain a specific provision that would constitute disclosing an HIV-status a crime. However, depending on the person who have disclosed the status, that person can be charged for Abuse of personal data, pursuant to Article 149 of the Criminal Code, or Unauthorized disclosure of professional secret, pursuant to Article 150 of the Criminal Code. Depending on the circumstances and the crime, the punishment is either monetary, a prison sentence of one year or three years. The disclosure of personal data, specifically medical data, is also prohibited with the Law on protection of rights of patients.

2. What are restriction for people with HIV regarding professions regarding the North Macedonia legislation? Would this person be able to continue working in laboratory?

– There are no restrictions for people with HIV regarding professions in the Republic of North Macedonia. As a matter of fact, the Law on Labor Relations and the Law on Preventing and the Protection from Discrimination prohibits discrimination based on a person’s health condition. However, all candidates for work positions and employees must disclose health conditions that might prevent them or limit them in completing their work tasks. Although there are no cases so far regarding this provision and employees who are living with HIV, this provision might be misused by employers with respect to HIV-status of employees or potential employees. Notwithstanding that, it would be unproportioned invasion of privacy, and by default unlawful, for employers to use this provision and ask employees or future employees to disclose their status. Speaking about the continuation of work – yes, the client can continue working in the laboratory and still is.

Letter to the Director of the Clinic

Expanding access to cutting-edge interventions: REAct hotlines launched in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan

Post author By velyunsky
Post date July 14, 2022

In early July, as part of the implementation of the COVID-19 Response Mechanism (C19RM), the Alliance for Public Health team held a webinar on the topic “The second regional program on COVID-19 of the #SoS 2.0 project: results of work, achievements, best practices”. The purpose of this event was to share best practices and present the results of the work of partners of the regional C19RM program in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Among the key speeches, the presentation of new interventions in the work of the REAct tool, which have already been implemented in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, was highlighted, namely, round-the-clock, national hotlines. According to Victoria Kalyniuk, Coordinator of the Project in EECA region, at the time of the COVID-19 epidemic, the launch of such a functionality for receiving emergency care clearly showed its importance. During the period from October 2021 to June 2022, a person who faced his rights violation in these countries could call such a “hotline” at any time and receive an immediate response and support. “This made it possible to document cases remotely, provide legal advice, respond urgently and expand the coverage of our tool’s clients even during the epidemic. We focused on removing barriers to accessing REAct services as much as possible.” – says Victoria Kalynyuk.

As a result, 45% of calls in Uzbekistan and 38% in Tajikistan were registered due to hotlines during this time. This coverage allowed REActors to prepare analytical studies in these countries, namely: “Report on the results of the Analysis of the Hotline calls: Domestic and other forms of violence against women living with HIV and women in key populations during the COVID-19 pandemic”. These studies are planned to be used in the future at the national level in order to draw even more attention of the state and the public to the situation with the violation of the rights of key groups, as well as to minimize the number of such cases.

“What is worth only the story of a woman who was in such great despair and no longer had the strength to endure humiliation and violence in a family that was ready to burn herself.” Victoria shares. “And it was thanks to the operational work of the REActor on “hotline” of Tajikistan that the woman was not only saved, but also her situation for the future was resolved. Therefore, I want to emphasize once again the relevance of the work of such interventions in the countries of the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region, regardless of the existing obstacles.”

You can view the entire online webinar here.

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Letter to the Director of the Clinic

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