CAPACITY-BUILDING OF LEGAL SECTOR WORKERS
Toolkit: Scaling Up HIV-Related Legal Services
In designing training programmes, attention needs to be given to such factors as: 1 How the training fits into a broader process of professional development and capacity-building. 2 How to identify the existing capacity and information needs of participants. 3 How many hours or days are feasible. 4 The advantages of a longer or shorter training session. 5 Site visits. 6 How to identify the participants. 7 Evaluating the effect and outcomes of the training over time, including how it fits within an ongoing process of learning and capacity-building. Consideration needs to be given to whether legal training is provided for lawyers only, or lawyers together with community members such as HIV activists. Involving lawyers and activists together allows for lawyers to learn from activists regarding current issues of community concern. A disadvantage may be that technical legal content that is useful for lawyers may not interest non-lawyers. Appendix 1 provides an example of a training programme. Appendix 2 provides examples of subjects that might be included in modules for workshops. Human rights and the HIV paradox A key first step to educating lawyers on HIV, law and human rights is to understand the HIV paradox. This paradox states that the most effective way of preventing the spread of HIV is to protect the human rights of people most affected, including key populations whose behaviours may be criminalized, such as sex workers, men who have sex with men and people who use illicit drugs. This is considered a paradox because the assumption in the past has been that to prevent a public health threat requires limitation of individual rights, rather than protection of rights. Attempts to control epidemics have often involved quarantine, isolation and other compulsory legal measures. Paradoxically, in the case of HIV, such measures that limit rights are likely to accelerate the spread of the epidemic, rather than prevent it. Once this paradox is acknowledged and understood, laws and legal services that protect the human rights of people living with HIV and key populations can be seen to support public health, rather than conflict with public health.
Training on the substantive law will vary according to jurisdiction. Specialized training is required for addressing subpopulations with very specific legal needs, such as people who use illicit drugs, sex workers, prisoners, men who have sex with men and transgender people. Training curricula should address the substantive law as well as the process for enforcing the law and alternatives to the court system. This should be included as a result of a needs analysis and cannot be addressed in one workshop. In some instances, comprehensive texts have been produced on HIV-related law for lawyers, paralegals, activists and health-care workers. For example, the AIDS Law Project in South Africa has produced HIV/AIDS and the law: a resource manual (3rd ed., 2003) (http://www.alp.org.za). There are also Internet-based resources, such as AIDS and Law Exchange (AIDSLEX) (http://www.aidslex.org).
See: Kirby M (1996). Human rights and the HIV paradox. Lancet, 348(2):1217–1218. 35