Addressing leaders of support groups at a capacity building workshop on HIV and Aids, human rights and law, held in Harare last week, Justice Aids Trust (JAT) coordinator Albert Chambati said many HIV+ people were suffering in silence because they did not know their rights.“Some women are being abandoned by their husbands because of their status and the husbands refuse to pay maintenance,” Chambati said. “This has seen a number of children turning to the streets.” Caroline Nyanzou, the JAT project lawyer said legal provisions such as the Labour Act were there to ensure that HIV+ people were not discriminated against at the workplace.“The National Aids Council Act requires that medical practitioners keep information about their patients confidentially and therefore one can seek legal protection if these rights are violated,” she said.JAT is providing free mobile legal clinics in some parts of Harare where it is trying to reach out to people living with Aids.Chambati said last year they assisted 374 people and the cases had to do with labour disputes, maintenance and birth registration.Maxwell Kapachawo, one of the beneficiaries said he sought JAT’s assistance after he was fired from work for being HIV+.He said although his case dragged for two years, he was happy that justice prevailed.JAT is a human rights organisation formed in 2007 to promote and protect rights of people living with HIV. The organisation aims to reach all parts of the country but its programmes have been constrained by lack of funds.
