Barcelona 2013
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| Abstract #597 - Law and Ethics | ||||
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Session: 26.7: Law and Ethics (Parallel) on Tuesday @ 11.00-13.00 in Auditorio Chaired by David Dalmau, Vincent Douris Authors: Presenting Author: Dr Dina Sidhva - University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom |
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| Additional Authors: Ms. Chen Zhang, Dr. Yan Hong, Ms. Shaobing Su , Dr. Yuejiao Zhou, | ||||
| Aim: Although asylum seekers are an increasingly visible group within British society, little is known about their unique vulnerabilities and health needs, particularly for asylum seekers who are HIV positive. This study sought a deeper understanding of the dilemmas and human rights issues faced by HIV positive asylum seekers who are dispersed to Scotland. The goal of the study was to provide visibility and place more emphasis on their human rights in discussions of service delivery. | ||||
| Method / Issue: Data were collected from 15 HIV-positive Black African women in Glasgow, Scotland. Individual interviews encouraged participants to speak their minds and provide as much detail as they wished to include. Focus groups provided a forum for sharing experiences and mutual support. Transcripts from the interviews and focus groups were analyzed for unique and recurring content, which was organized into a series of themes that captured the experience of the participants. | ||||
| Results / Comments: The narratives of asylum seekers highlight the issue of past and present vulnerability. Pre-migration factors such as conflict, poverty, trauma and powerlessness make AS more vulnerable to illness, including HIV and AIDS. The narratives of the HIV positive asylum seekers provide a disturbing picture of persecution, violence, gang-rape, and discrimination, leading them to flee their homes seeking safety. A combination of post-migration factors, such as discriminatory and authoritarian policies, negative media coverage, stigma and discrimination, breakdown of families due to state dispersal policies, false perceptions and inadequate representation continues to subject HIV positive asylum seekers to vulnerability and marginalization. | ||||
| Discussion: This research uncovered the plight of female HIV positive asylum seekers who have fled both personal and political violence. The findings show the dehumanizing situation of vulnerable women who must leave their homes, their young children and all they know to protect themselves from violence. It is hoped that appropriate authorities will change policies to recognize the fundamental human rights of this vulnerable and misunderstood group. | ||||
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