DESPITE the work done to reduce HIV stigma locally, policy and advocacy officer at Jamaica AIDS Support for Life (JASL) Patrick Lalor says discrimination against people living with the virus is still a real problem, with individuals being denied housing, employment, and access to certain spaces because of their status.

“The reality is there are numerous cases in which people living with HIV engage educational institutions, workplaces, communities, even families, and there is still a high level of stigma toward them. I’m not talking about people who pretend to be okay with people living with HIV, but under the cover, they are actually really discriminatory. There are people who will say one thing, but in terms of their operations in certain workplaces, in terms of their policies and the accommodation, they make you realise that they are not really as non-discriminatory as they purport,“ he said.

“We still see numerous cases in different circles where people living with HIV still experience high levels of discrimination. We are by no means saying the situation has in no way improved from where it was a decade ago, but I am saying where a lot of people purport that we are or think that we are in terms of how things have improved — we are far from it,” Lalor told the Jamaica Observer.

According to the policy and advocacy officer, JASL has received 42 reports of discriminatory actions against people living with HIV since the start of the year, with people living with the virus stating that they were either ostracised from a community, their place of residence or employment, as well as public places because of their status.

“We had a case from our western office where a tenant had someone who came to the residence who knew them and knew of their HIV status and it came out to the landlord that the person was HIV-positive, and they [the landlord] asked them [the tenant] to leave. In this particular case, there was no subtlety to it, they just said, ‘I don’t want anybody with HIV living in my place’,” he shared.

He added that as recently as last week, a person living with HIV reached out to JASL to report that they were let go from a job at a hotel because they did not disclose their status, even though there is no obligation for them to do so.

“This is why we cannot subscribe to the position that discrimination is not there any more or not really so bad, because in our work we are seeing it greatly. Someone would think I am relating a case from 19-something or the early 2000s, but this is a fresh case we got in December 2024, that someone is dismissed from a hotel because they did not disclose their status,” said Lalor.

According to the People Living with HIV Stigma Report 2020 for Jamaica, when asked if they had experienced some form of stigma or discrimination related to their HIV status outside the health centre within the past 12 months, 183 participants or 33 per cent said yes. Additionally, 268 or 48 per cent reported ever having experienced stigma or discrimination related to their status since being diagnosed.

The most common forms of stigma and discrimination were gossip and discriminatory remarks, followed by verbal harassment.

The report further stated that 64 respondents said they have been denied or lost employment since being diagnosed. Thirty respondents said they were denied employment within the last 12 months of the survey because of their HIV status.

Additionally, since being diagnosed, 48 respondents said they were harmed because of their status, 55 individuals were excluded from family gatherings, 32 individuals had their job description changed or denied a promotion, and 13 individuals were excluded from school activities or other educational facilities.

Lalor said that while JASL is willing to represent clients in discriminatory matters, possible clients living with HIV will refuse to take the matter to court because taking a matter to court means that their status could be exposed to more people, resulting in further discrimination. He added that it is not a guarantee that discriminatory matters related to a person’s HIV status will be held in private, making it possible for the story to be placed in the media.

“Once it is a process that opens up the possibility for more people to know, a client is generally not interested in it. You will find cases where people say, ‘Listen, I don’t care any more. I don’t care who knows. I was badly treated and I want justice,’ but you get those rarely. Most people wouldn’t want anyone else, who doesn’t already know or is assuming, to know, so they prefer to leave it there,” he told the Sunday Observer.

Lalor advocated for legislative changes, particularly for it to be included in the constitution, that a person cannot be discriminated against because of their health or HIV status.

“There is no protection in the constitution. Despite the fact that there is a discrimination clause that protects against discrimination of social class, religion, sex — all of those things — it does not include health status,” said Lalor.

“The Offences Against the Person Act deals with inflicting bodily harm, and the case law that exists which suggests that passing HIV to someone fits the bill of inflicting grievous bodily harm and can warrant a person living with HIV being prosecuted, but as it relates to protection for people living with HIV, we really have nothing in the law,” he stated, clarifying that while there are policies, the absence of concrete legislation is noticeable.

He called on organisations to join year-long efforts to raise awareness about issues affecting people living with HIV, instead of only using World AIDS Day — celebrated annually on December 1 — to get the message across.

“While World AIDS Day is a significant day on our calendar, working with people with HIV is what we [at JASL] do every day and year. The reality is that we are always happy when we see our State partners put out messages around World AIDS Day, but what we want to see is the support behind those messages. I don’t just want to see a message on World AIDS Day.

“I want to see policies, procedures, and practices throughout the year that suggest you really have the concern for people living with HIV. I want to see legislative recommendations and changes that suggest you really have the concern about people living with HIV,” stressed Lalor.

According to the UNAIDS, approximately 30,000 Jamaicans are living with HIV.

Jamaica’s National AIDS policy’s principal focus is the prevention of new HIV infections; treatment, care, and support of those infected or affected by HIV/AIDS; mitigation of the impact of the epidemic; strengthening of the enabling environment including legislative changes and the reduction of HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination.

The Ministry of Health also provides free antiretroviral medication for people living with HIV, available at health centres islandwide, in addition to year-long testing to make people aware of their status.