How are Parliamentarians handling their Roles as Advocates for Human Rights, Equality and Justice. The Caribbean Experience.

It has been  established that parliamentarians  perform three essential roles: legislative, representational and oversight. They make laws, including working in  bipartisan/select committees to overcome challenges; interact with constituents to gauge and gain support for programs;  and establish procedures for promoting and reviewing programs and budgets. The Legal Environmental Assessments of parliamentarians’ combined roles carried out by PANCAP 2016-2017,  identified that with reference to reducing/eliminating stigma and discrimination, there is need for counties to pay special attention to adopting the those elements of PANCAP's Justice for All Roadmap, in particular (a) promoting prevention with special reference to sexual and reproductive health and rights including age appropriate sexual education and (b) implementing legislative reforms for modifying AIDS related discrimination. 

Parliamentary Sensitization Forums in  Barbados, Belize, Jamaica , St Lucia, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago convened by PANCAP  (2017-2019), identified several major challenges that confront parliamentarians in their efforts to contribute to ending the AIDS  epidemic by 2030. Each instance illustrates why the Law matters. Some Laws are unhelpful to health seeking behavior because certain groups like key populations may hesitate to interact with health services for fear of criminal sanctions. Others promote discrimination and stigmatize certain populations. Yet others  expose individuals to increased violence and lower self-esteem and force them into risky behavior. ​

---

Research supports the view  that “if people living with HIV  feel empowered to be open about their status, they can access the right medical treatment and social support and protect their partners’’. So how do Caribbean Parliamentarians intend to deal with these  issues of human rights, equality and justice? 

The response will focus on three (3) major issues that have attracted the attention of Caribbean parliamentarians: (a) Implementing the PANCAP Model  Anti-discrimination legislation and amending the Sexual Offenses against the Persons Act; (b) Advocating against criminalizing HIV and (c) Resolving the stalemate on Comprehensive Sexual Education (a fourth issue, violence  against women, girls and adolescents will be the focus of a subsequent blog).

Adopt  the CARICOM  Model Anti-discrimination Legislation and amending the Sexual Offenses against the Persons Act 

This model Legislation initiated by PANCAP and adopted by the CARICOM Legal Advisory Committee,   including the Attorneys Generals of the Region (May 2012) was drafted by some of the best legal minds in the Caribbean. https://caricom.org/.../pancap-model-anti-discrimination-legislation-interface-between-...

It addresses  issues impacting people living with HIV and AIDS which are also issues of human rights.  Because of the implications of denial of these rights, the Model Legislation promotes an  inclusive approach to ending discrimination, not just on the basis of HIV status but on wider grounds, including gender, disability and sexual orientation. A snapshot of the HIV related legal environment in the Caribbean in 2012 remains almost the same today:

• 56% of countries report no legal protection against HIV-related discrimination
• 75% of countries report laws and regulations that present obstacles to HIV services for vulnerable population groups
• 69% of countries criminalize same sex activities among consenting adults
• 81 % of countries criminalize some aspects of sex work
• 19% of countries have HIV-related travel restrictions
• 19% of countries have HIV-specific laws that criminalize HIV transmission (Source: UNAIDS 2010)

Resulting from the  current round of Parliamentarian Sensitization Forums coordinated by PANCAP, all countries have agreed to advance the process for implementing the Model as  an aspirational goal for eliminating stigma and discrimination, while translating its clauses into legislation to reflect national consensus. The adoption of the model will also respond to  many of the outstanding legal gaps that fall under the Offences Against the Persons Act, sections of the Criminal Code, The Immigration Act and laws that support child marriage. These currently  engage parliamentarians throughout the Caribbean. 

Reconsider Attempts at  Criminalizing HIV 

The issue of criminalizing HIV has long been under consideration throughout the world.  Recently in Jamaica, The Joint Select Committee of Parliament made a recommendation to introduce a law to criminalize willfully knowingly and recklessly transmitting HIV and other STIs. This issue was an item on the agenda of the Jamaica Parliamentarian Sensitization Forum in February 2019. The arguments presented by Jamaica Network of Seropositives supported by findings of behavioral  research of LANCET, UNAIDS and others, led to a recommendation for Jamaica to reconsider its position. The reasons include the following negative effects of the proposed law: 

• It will increase stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV  as the law directly targets them
• It will deter people from getting tested
• It will discriminate against poorly educated people
• It is, in most times difficult to make a determination of willful intent given the grey area between the acquisition of HIV and the reflection and its presence in the blood 
• It will take resources away from HIV prevention messages. 
• It will make some women living with HIV more vulnerable. 
• it will disproportionately target marginalized communities such as men who have sex with men, sex workers and trans genders. 
• It will remove the responsibility for safer sex and condom use contradicting the public health message that places responsibility on both partners to practice safe sex. 

In addition,  the Sexual Offenses Act (Section 22) in Jamaica and elsewhere,  already deals with clear cases of knowingly and willfully transmitting harmful infections. Hence no new specific HIV law is necessary.  

It is important to note that on June 20, 2019,  four (4) months after the advocacy of the Jamaica Network of  Seropositives to the PANCAP/Jamaica Parliamentarian Sensitization Forum, The Canadian Federal Justice Commission supported its arguments in a comprehensive  report on Criminalization of HIV Non-Disclosure https://www.halco.org › news › crim...Response to Federal Justice Committee Report on Criminalization of People Living With HIV | HALCO - HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario


Resolve the stalemate on Comprehensive Sexual Education

For some time and since 2000 in particular,  the CARICOM Health and Family Life Education (HFLE) Program  has been used as a regional tool for public awareness for in and out of school youth on matters relating to sex and healthy lifestyles. There has always been cynicism about the appropriateness of its content  for various ages and the widespread reticence or lack of competence of teachers and most community leaders in delivering HFLE curriculum. More recently, UNESCO in collaboration with other UN agencies and widespread engagement of stakeholders in countries around the world has produced a Model for Comprehensive Sexual Education. It is intended as an evidenced informed  approach and a curriculum based process of teaching and learning about cognitive, emotional, physical and social aspects of sexuality. It is aimed at young people before they become sexually active and those most vulnerable to misinformation. CSE is also intended to be delivered by well trained teachers complemented by parents and guardians and youth friendly services. Its evidence based benefits include:  

• Delays in initiating sexual intercourse 
• Decreases frequency of sexual intercourse
• Decreases the number of sexual partners
• Increase condom use
• Increases use of contraceptives 

However, there is  disquiet and in some instance strong objections from certain segments of the religious community on the content and intent of CSE. This is notwithstanding that CSE like  the PANCAP Model Anti-discrimination Legislation offers a template that makes provision for modifications by countries based on their cultural norms, religious belifs and adherence to findings of biomedical and behavioral research. 

Here is where the representational and oversight roles of parliamentarians become important.   There is consensus that public education is an essential function of prevention. Therefore, among the actions that the parliamentary system can pioneer is  convening national multi sectoral commissions to review the CSE curriculum to ensure that it is age appropriate. Such a Commission based on diversity can carve out principles that place emphasis on equipping young people with the knowledge, skills attitudes and values that will empower them to realize their health, well-being and dignity; inculcate greater appreciation for family relations, a better understanding of friendship, love and romantic relations,  the value of tolerance, inclusion and respect and long term commitment to parenting. 


The “How “ requires Parliamentarians Taking Bold steps 

Parliamentarians in the Caribbean have formidable illustrations of the value of pursuing their collective legislative, representative and oversight  roles. It was the CARICOM Heads of Governments that issued the Nassau Declaration: The health of the Region is the Wealth of the Region In its salutation, CARICOM Heads  stated “cognizant of the critical role of health in the economic development of our people and overawed by the prospect that our current health problems, especially HIV/AIDS, may impede such development through the devastation of our human capital”   https://caricom.org/.../nassau-declaration-on-health-2001-the-health-of-the-region-is-t.


In the  2007 Port of Spain Declaration, Uniting to Fight the Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs), CARICOM Heads of Government stated that they were ‘conscious of the collective actions which have in the past fueled regional integration, the goal of which is to enhance the well-being of the citizens of our countries’  http://caricom.org/media-center/communications/statements-from-caricom-meetings/declaration-of-port-of-spain-uniting-to-stop-the-epidemic-of-chronic-ncds

While the Nassau Declaration offered a template for action based on two pillars - the Caribbean Cooperation in Health and the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV/AIDS, the Port of Spain Declaration triggered the UN High Level Meeting on NCDs that escalated into an international movement for health and wellness. At the heart of both Declarations, are implementable recommendations that depend on public education and national, regional and international solidarity. In both,  the quintessential examples of functional cooperation are prominent features. And in both, there is a clear understanding that the health and well-being of societies are intricately linked to human capital development 


Eddie Greene 

​