By Chaitanya Karimanasseri C'24
Source: Eugene Gordon / New York Historical Society/Getty Images
This past year in 2020, the harsh realities of police brutality across the globe have become increasingly clear, and conversations have risen regarding the proper role that police and the justice system should play in advancing an equitable society for all, specifically in their relation to community public health. Police and law enforcement attitudes worldwide towards HIV and the key populations most affected play a major role in the marginalization of these communities and communities of color, as well as the spread of HIV within them.
Former UNAIDS Executive Director and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Michel Sidibé said it best in a foreword to a special issue of the Journal of the International AIDS Society in 2016:
“As protectors and guardians of public safety, police should be trusted to respect human dignity and uphold the human rights of all people. Yet, all around the world, police too often evoke fear of violence and repression – a far cry from their civic and social purpose.”
Such police-promoted marginalization leading to the spread of HIV is especially prevalent in developing countries, whose law enforcement often engage in behavior and have policies in place that disproportionately impact members of key affected populations (KAPs) for HIV. KAPs include sex workers, people who identify as LGBTQ+, people who inject drugs, and more. For instance, sex work is illegal in over 100 countries, drug use is widely criminalized, and men who have sex with men can even be punished with the death penalty in a few countries.
Oftentimes, police in developing countries use these laws to harass and abuse members of KAPs—abuse that can be rooted in their own prejudices and/or beliefs regarding the members of these KAPs. For example, Saidi W., a gay man in Dar Es Salaam, the former capital of Tanzania, was arrested in 2010 by the police, forcibly undressed, beaten, and taken along with five other of his gay friends to a police station, where they were then raped by other detainees. The police simply stated, “This is good, this is what you want.” Such horrific abuses of human rights can not only lead to increased stigma associated with these KAPs, but also widespread fear within KAPs themselves. As such, the more that KAPs are marginalized, the worse their well-being and the greater their risk of being affected by HIV.
To illustrate this, take the example of transgender women sex workers in India, who are often “forced to relocate and work in unfamiliar settings” due to the great extent of police harassment they report against them. This limits their choices of “clients and safety”, thus amplifying their risk of getting HIV.
However, the two stories mentioned are just a glimpse into how the law can be used against KAPs and lead to the further spread of HIV. For instance, police have used the possession of condoms, a means of safe sex which can limit the spread of HIV, to instead justify arresting the people in possession of them for prostitution. As such, people may be forced to have or sell sex without condoms due to their lack of availability and/or criminalization, contributing to the spread of HIV. A similar scenario exists due to the widespread illegality of drug use. This is because arresting people who inject drugs and confiscating their syringes, for instance, can lead them to instead inject themselves with used or shared needles due to the needles’ lack of legal availability.
It is clear the wide-ranging impact that laws and police attitudes that marginalize KAPs can have in the spread of HIV around the world. In order for UNAIDS’ goal of ending HIV/AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 to come to fruition, global initiatives aimed at achieving such need to address such marginalization of KAPs and police attitudes in developing countries worldwide. After all, if we do not work with the countries and local authorities whose people we are trying to help, how much can we really help?
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