by Dushiyanthini Kanagasabapathipillai
“A free bird leaps
On the back of the wind
And floats downstream
Till the current end
And dips her wing
In the orange sun rays
And dares to claim the sky” - Maya Angelou- American Poet, memoirist, actress and civil rights activist
The 8th ICAAP (International Congress on AIDS in Asia and Pacific) will be held in Sri Lanka from August 19t to 23 rd 2007. There will be 2,000 delegates from 40 countries participating in the international conference. “Waves of Change; Waves of Hope” is this year’s theme. There are many events organized to coincide with the main conference.
A media briefing about the upcoming 8th ICAAP was held in Colombo on Thursday August 16th, announcing details of the 5 day conference.
As per the UNAIDS fact sheet of August 10 th 2007 released at the briefing, an estimated 5,000 people are living with HIV in Sri Lanka at the end of 2005, and an estimated 140 people died of AIDS related illnesses. Nearly two decades since reporting of its first HIV infection, Sri Lanka remains one of the few countries in the region with low level HIV epidemic. Reported cases of HIV reached a cumulative total of 886 people by June 2007 according to the National STD and AIDS Control Programme, of which 41% were women. A total of 26 paediatric HIV have been diagnosed in Sri Lanka as of end of 2006.
The first ever Asia Pacific Court of Women on HIV, Inheritance and Property Rights: From Dispossession to Livelihoods, Security and Safe Spaces will be held at the BMICH (Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall) on August 18 th 2007 as a pre-congress activity. The “Regional Court of Women” is organized by UNDP Regional HIV and Development Programme, in partnership with Asian Women’s Human Rights Council (AWHRC), UNAIDS and UNIFEM
It is an attempt to give visibility to the lives and voices of those who are increasingly being pushed to the margins of our societies and polity, because they are identified as positive and poor. There will be 25 women living with HIV from 11 countries- Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Iran, Pakistan, Malaysia, Cambodia , Vietnam, Thailand, South Africa and Papua New Guinea share their stories of struggle. The Eminent Jury will include Miloon Kothari, UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing, Marina Mahathir ( Malaysia), Justice Shiranee Tilakawardade (Sri Lanka), Justice Kalyan Shresstha (Nepal), Cherie Honkala (United States), Lawrence Liang (India) and Farida Akhter (Bangladesh). In addition to the hearings, five experts of repute will present their contextual analyses of the diverse aspects of the issue. These “expert witnesses” will be Vicky Corpuz- Tebtebba Foundation in the Philippines, Sunila Abeysekera-INFORM in Sri Lanka, Anand Grover-Lawyers Collective in India, Elizabeth Reid-Sociologist in Australia, and Assefa Yirga Gebregziabher an Ethiopian Lawyer.
The testimonies will be presented in four sessions on:
1. Dispossession and destruction: Poverty, Violence and HIV
2. Dispossession and destruction: Culture, Marginalisation and HIV
3. Human Rights and Inhuman Wrongs: Evaluating State Responses, HIV, Property and Inheritance Rights
4. Reclaiming Survival and Security: Celebrating Voices of Resistance and Hope
“Court will bring to public focus challenges faced by women in context of HIV and AIDS. HIV deepens the prevalent gender inequalities driving the epidemic in the region. When women are denied their rights to inheritance and property, they are robbed of the social and economic empowerment needed to help prevent HIV infection, and cope with its impact on families and communities” said Caitlin Wiesen, Regional HIV/AIDS Team Leader, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Regional Center in Colombo at the media briefing.
[Caitlin Wiesen]
She further said:
“The unequal rights of women to inheritance and property in many parts of the region have been severely aggravated by HIV. Burdened by the care of their spouses, illnesses and the responsibility of the household, women living with or affected by HIV are often denied their rightful access to property when their spouses die. Blamed, abused and expelled from their marital homes. HIV positive women are often denied access to their children as well.
The feminization of the epidemic in the Asia Pacific region and the related challenges are truly daunting. About 30% of the new infections in the region are among women. With little or no control over their sexual lives and burdened by abuse, exploitation and violence women in the region are extremely vulnerable to HIV as borne by the facts. In Papua New Guinea 60% of the new infections are among women, while in Thailand “housewives” accounted for 40% of the new cases. In Nepal 100% of the new infections are among women.
A recent socio-economic impact study in India by UNDP and the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) show that almost 80% of the AIDS widows were expelled from their marital home. Women living with HIV who own lands subject to violence 4-7 times in life. Dispossessed of land and property, women are left to inherit HIV, loss of family, shame and poverty. Women should be empowered to claim their rights to inherit properties and to disinherit vulnerabilities to HIV”.
[Madhu Bhushan]
Also attending at the media briefing, Madhu Bhushan, Co-ordinator of Asian Women’s Human Rights Council (AWHRC) in India stated:
“The Courts are part of a global movement that seeks to redefine rights and other notions of justice from the lives and life visions of women particularly from the global South. More than thirty Courts of Women have been held in different regions in the world such as Asia, Arab States, Africa Central America and Latin America.
Violence against women living with HIV is escalating. The institution of prostitution has been in the history, but now it is becoming an industry”.
Through exploring the feminist methodology of weaving together the personal with the political, women’s subjective testimonies are woven together with objective realities presented by expert witnesses. The Courts also offer varies other ways to know through weaving together the logical with the lyrical by interspersing these testimonies and analyses with video testimonies, artistic images and poetry.
There is considerable evidence that Sri Lanka is vulnerable to the development of the concentrated HIV epidemics. Female sex workers are found in most of the major towns and cities, and there are networks of Men who have Sex with Men with multiple partners including paying clients according to the recent fact sheet by the UNAIDS.
Although Sri Lanka has a low prevalent rate, which is less than 1%, the challenge is to keep the rate low. When people get displaced from their homes, the usual system of justice does not exist.
Some courageous women who are living with HIV have come forwarded to share their pain at the Regional Courts of Women. They have faced challenges in their lives, and they need to be treated with dignity, and the way they are being treated in the community needs to change. Their silence needs to be broken; and their voices should be heard!
The 9 th ICAAP (International Congress on AIDS in Asia and Pacific) will be held in Indonesia in 2009.
Email: dushi.pillai@gmail.com
