DESIGNING LOCALLY APPROPRIATE SERVICE MODELS
Toolkit: Scaling Up HIV-Related Legal Services
consider including this function in the role of the governance body of the organization. This group can advise the programme implementers on critical strategic issues as they arise. It can also provide a pool of influential champions for the programme, which can be drawn upon when needed, such as when applying for funding. TRADITIONAL LEGAL SYSTEMS When designing legal services, it is important to assess whether there are community-based dispute resolution processes that can be used as an alternative to formal courts by people living with HIV and key populations. For example, in India, lok adalat (people’s courts) use trained mediators to resolve common problems that previously may have been decided by elders. In Bangladesh, disputes such as family matters and land claims are Case studies: Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS Unit, India The Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS Unit is a leading provider of HIV-related legal services in India. Sex workers’ rights Based on a newspaper report that there were underage girls in the sex industry in Mumbai, a court ordered the police to identify and detain them. The court required that all the girls to be tested for HIV regardless of consent. Many women and girls were detained and placed in state protective homes. A large number of those who were detained were not under age. The Lawyers’ Collective intervened and obtained a court order for proper medical treatment of the women and girls and to prevent HIV testing without consent. The Lawyers Collective also requested that the court order the release of the sex workers who were over 18, but the court did not grant an order for their release. Employment discrimination MX was a casual labourer. Company policy required casual labourers to sign a register and be placed on a waiting list. Those determined to be medically fit were eventually employed on a permanent basis. In 1993, MX was asked to undergo a medical examination, which included an HIV test. MX tested HIV-positive, but in all other respects was assessed as healthy. Notwithstanding this medical assessment, the company removed MX from its waiting list of registered labourers. Representing MX, the Lawyers Collective discovered that the company had issued written circulars mandating HIV testing. The company circulars stated that those testing HIV-positive would not be hired and current employees could be dismissed. The Lawyers Collective commenced court proceedings to challenge MX’s removal from the waiting list. The court found that MX’s rights had been breached and he should be reinstated on the panel of casual labourers. The court ordered the company to accept him as a permanent labourer should he be certified fit to work and the company was required to pay the income he had lost. The court ordered that MX’s identity be suppressed, to protect him from stigma and discrimination. Aggleton P et. al. (2005). HIV-related stigma, discrimination and human rights violations: case studies of successful programmes. Geneva, UNAIDS. Available at http://data.unaids.org/publications/irc-pub06/JC999-HumRightsViol_en.pdf. UNAIDS & Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network (2006). Courting rights: case studies in litigating the human rights of people living with HIV/AIDS. Geneva, UNAIDS. http://data.unaids.org/pub/Report/2006/jc1189-courtingrights_en.pdf. 30