Justice needed!

Wednesday, 2 March 2016 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Intolerance is often borne out of ignorance and when the two unite the result is usually victimisation. A child not being given the chance for an education is a crime of epic proportions but when it is denied out of ignorance and bigotry an entire country needs to pay attention.

Sri Lanka is considered to have a very low prevalence of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. According to UN figures, in 2014 there were 3,200 adults and 100 children living with HIV, fewer than 0.1% of the 20 million population. But there is also concern about poor awareness of the virus and how it spreads, which leads to stigma and discrimination.

The saddest example of this is a boy who has been denied the chance to attend school because of a rumour he has AIDS, despite the child and the mother holding medical records to the contrary. The vicious rumour mill, which began with the death of the father, is now threatening to undermine his life completely.

Chandani de Soysa has refused to give up on her child and after her case was widely reported, the educational and human rights authorities became involved, and last week one school was ordered to take in the child. Despite both her and her son holding certificates showing they are not infected, parents immediately began putting pressure on her to remove him, but she refused.

Parents, in response, removed their children from the Kurunegela school last week. His mother said many other schools had rejected him because her husband’s death had been wrongly blamed on AIDs. School officials told the BBC’s Sinhala service they would try to hold a session to educate parents.

The school head has closed the school for two days but angry parents have been standing at the school gate and protesting to officials and teachers who enter. Meanwhile officials from the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission have been to the school and have also visited the boy’s home.

This is the sad plight of a dangerous trend. It is almost inconceivable that in an age of free and immediate access to information so many people would be prejudiced against a small child and limit his chance to recover from losing his father and gaining an education. This experience will scar him for life but it also underscores the dire need to have more widespread awareness of AIDS, not only to combat discrimination but also because ignorance on this scale also creates opportunities for the virus to spread. If people are not aware of what AIDS is and how it spreads, then how can they safeguard themselves?

Stigmatisation and discrimination discourage demand for counselling, testing, and treatment. Reducing the stigma associated with HIV and AIDS in Sri Lanka will require greater involvement of civil society organisations, businesses, the entertainment industry, religious leaders, and the medical community. As respected opinion leaders, they can play an effective role in reducing harassment of groups promoting positive attitudes towards people with HIV and AIDS and creating an enabling environment for prevention efforts. Training Police to reduce harassment of vulnerable groups and engage HIV-positive groups are central to these efforts and action must be taken immediately.