Banning the Marginalized, Perpetuating the Stigma: 

The U.S. Travel Ban Against Sex Workers and Drug Users and its Consequences on the AIDS 2012 Conference 

By: Lily Alexander, HIV Stigma Intern for ICRW

 

How effective can a conference truly be that doesn’t include the opinions of those most affected? How much productive dialogue can be created when the voices so key to this issue are missing? These are some of the key questions that surround the upcoming International AIDS Conference (IAC) in light of the U.S. travel ban against sex workers and drug users, two populations most heavily affected by the epidemic.  

25,000 delegates from over 200 countries are projected to be attending the 2012 IAC that will take place in Washington, D.C. from July 22 through 27. Yet due to the U.S. travel ban against sex workers and drug users, those present at the conference will not be representative of the populations most heavily affected by the epidemic.

                                                        
The U.S. was chosen as the location for the 2012 IAC due to the recent repeal of the U.S. ban against people living with HIV entering this country, which had prevented an international AIDS conference from being held in the U.S. since 1992. Although Obama’s 2010 repeal of the U.S. ban was an important milestone in reducing HIV stigma, U.S. travel restrictions continue to perpetuate the stigma.

Current U.S. law prohibits the entry of those people that have participated in sex work in the past 10 years, or those considered drug “addicts” or “abusers.” The two related questions on the visa application include:

1. Are you or have you ever been a drug abuser or drug addict?
2. Are you coming to the United States to engage in prostitution or unlawful commercialized vice or have you been engaged in prostitution or procuring prostitutes within the past 10 years?

These extremely vague and ambiguous definitions of drug users and sex workers mean that an enormous spectrum of people are considered ineligible for entering this country and participating in what could be one of the most important conferences of the decade. No criminal charge is necessary to be implicated as “engaging in prostitution,” but rather, prostitution is defined as “moral turpitude.” This restriction applies even to sex workers in countries where prostitution is legal.

Although sex workers and drug users can apply for a waiver if their visa application is denied, this process is extremely time-intensive and costly -- $140 for the initial visa application plus $545 for the waiver. In addition, even if this waiver is accepted, this waiver guarantees only a one-time entry for the individual and means that one’s record is permanently marked as being a drug user or sex worker, which not only exacerbates stigma but may prevent entry into the U.S. on other occasions in the future. This waiver code stamped in passports will essentially be a scarlet letter that screams criminal for the rest of these peoples’ lives.

In response to the exclusivity of the AIDS 2012 conference, two off-site conference hubs have been declared in Calcutta and the Ukraine so that sex workers and drug users can participate in the debate. The Sex Worker Freedom Festival -- the alternative conference being held in Calcutta -- was organized to “protest our exclusion and ensure the voices of those excluded are heard in Washington.” This conference is free for sex workers.

  
Yet for some, such as Allan Clear, executive director of the Harm Reduction Coalition, these conferences are an unacceptable alternative. “What you’re asking for is that drug users [and sex workers] press their noses against the window of a country and conference that they can’t get into and where their lives and issues are not represented. A hub is not a viable alternative. It is just not an acceptable alternative. We just cannot sign off on something that is supposed to smooth the issue over and make people feel better.”

The AIDS 2010 Conference in Vienna sparked great hope of ending the stigma of those key populations living with HIV. The Vienna Declaration -- the policy statement issued at the conference -- pledged to end the criminalization of drug users and include a large presence of both drug users and sex workers at the 2012 conference. The International AIDS Society was one of four organizations who authored the Vienna Declaration. It is contradictory that two years later they have chosen a location for the 2012 AIDS conference that further criminalizes and ostracizes the very same populations they had so boldly defended in the declaration.

Let’s renew this hope that was present after the 2010 conference and lift the travel ban against sex workers and drug users, two populations that have been disproportionately affected by the epidemic. With the conference a little over a month away, we must act swiftly to pressure the U.S. government to do so. The U.S. funds and directs many HIV programs throughout the world, and it is imperative that our policies align with the goal of reducing stigma of these marginalized populations.

Obama’s lifting of the ban against people living with HIV coming into this country was pivotal in the fight to end the epidemic. But it’s not enough. In Housing Works’ Executive Director Larry Bryant’s speech at the end of the 2010 Vienna conference, he said, “Ending the travel ban was supposed to be a major step in destroying the stigma engulfing individuals around the world infected and affected by HIV and AIDS. All we have done is shifted it to other marginalized and criminalized communities: sex workers, drug users and ex-offenders.”

Let’s follow on the coattails of this momentum and repeal the travel ban against sex workers and drug users. They deserve the same rights and respect as anyone else.

ImStillJosh guest-blogs!

Josh sends us this blog from his blog.  Bottom line: DO NOT PANIC!  Read on...  :)

I’m HIV-postive and I just got a NOsebleed. OH SH*T!Posted in: Me+=sameME. Tagged: aids, aids strategy, bleeding, hiv, HIV Positive, hiv stigma, imstilljosh,living with hiv, nose bleeds. 7 comment

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Since Jan. 24, 2012, I have had the opportunity to learn some amazing things about my body, how HIV infection grows and is treated and how others that are more “positive experienced” than myself have lived with this immune disorder for many, many years. It’s been very humbling, to say the least.

A nosebleed for an HIV-positive person really can freak us out. So you don't need to. #stigma

But what happened recently was not something I had thought about much– or how I would react or feel. But it’s actually something that every HIV-positive person has to think about, and often.

I woke up the other morning to blood on my pillow. Blood on my hands. Blood that was dried up — on my face! Talk about something worse than that morning breath I had when I was still a smoker. (Oh, yea, I quit recently.)

Talk about an “OH SH*T! MOTHER OF A GAY QUEEN SLAPPING HER DOG BECAUSE SHE CAN’T FIND THE RIGHT EYE LINER PENCIL” freak out.

I had, had a nosebleed.  Questions were flying through my mind: “What if this happened when I was out in the public? Would others freak out? Would I? Would I be the lonely guy in the middle of the street screaming for a tissue and everyone just kept walking by?” “Can I give someone MY HIV from my nosebleed? Well, duh. But what about my dried up blood?” “Should I throw away my pillow now? But what if someone is going through the trash and touches it?”

See the fact is, I hadn’t yet realized or experienced the freaking out that HIV-positive people (at least once) have gone through or will go through when they might get a paper cut, nosebleed, or even a cut in the roof of our mouths from that sharp tortilla chip.

Will I continue to freak out a little when I see blood? HELL YEA! 

But you (neg’s & poz’s) don’t need to, if you see my blood. Trust me, I’ll take care of it. So don’t freak out a lot … or even a little. I’m already doing it, even if I laugh.  <—– the reality of an HIV-positive guy from Tennessee.

End the stigma. I’m still Josh! YOU still be You!!!

-Josh

Guest Blogger from Living Positive Puts Stigma into Her Own Words as a Poem

Our thanks go out to this guest blogger who writes of her own experiences. It's definitely worth a read. Check this out, and head on over to her blog after that!

Stigma

Stigma is not just one thing.
Stigma is many things.
It comes in the form of words, thoughts, actions, attitudes, looks, and in my own imagination.
Stigma may be different for you than it is for me.

Stigma is when your uncle says, “Hmmm… I didn’t think we had those kind of people around here”.
When your grandmothers says, “Oh, bi-sexual ones are the worst! They just spread it to everyone!”
When your sister says, “Oh my gosh. I would freak out if my kid’s babysitter had HIV!”

Stigma is when your family and friends suddenly think you are sickly and weaker than everyone else…
“Oh that is a long day… you must be tired.”
“Are you sure you can handle doing that?”
“Oh, you just can’t get up early in the morning anymore.”
“No, we can’t come over if ****** has a cold… we wouldn’t want Jessica to get sick.”

Stigma is when you have to lie or hide things from people out of fear of their reactions.
When you awkwardly have to come up with an excuse during job interviews about why you got sick and had to leave your previous job.
When you have to cover your tracks and delete your browsing history lest your employer find out that you have HIV.
When you must hide your last name from social networking sites so that Google and the whole world can’t find out your secret.

Stigma is when, no matter your level of education, people suddenly see you as stupid and lesser of a person.
When they repeatedly ask you, “How could you have been so stupid to make those mistakes?”
When they assume you must have either been raped or be a drug user or a prostitute.
When a pharmacist or doctor looks and talks down to you.

Stigma is when you see a parent slightly cringe when their child puts his fingers near or in your mouth.
When you notice the startled look on an old friend’s face when you reach to take a sip from his drink.
When someone wonders if they must warn a family friend of your status before bringing you to visit that person’s house.
When people don’t say anything at all because they feel it is awkward or taboo to talk about.

Stigma is when you feel ashamed for being a sexual person.
When you refrain from flirting with someone because you assume it would be a waste of time and just later lead to rejection.
When 67% of people say on a poll that they probably wouldn’t be willing to date you.

Stigma is when you feel guilty for your past choice(s).
When you feel you will always have to attempt to prove yourself and make up for it now.
When the world thinks they know you just because of those 3 letters. H-I-V.
When they don’t care who or what you were before or what you will be after- to them you will always just be HIV.

This is stigma for me.
The little things, whether intentional or not.
The looks, the words, the thoughts, the attitudes.
Most of it stems from fear and a lack of knowledge.
Some of it is just inside me.
I don’t know if it will ever be gone.
It is just there,
And maybe it always will be.




Written By:
Living Positive
I am 25. White. A Female. And a former Peace Corps Volunteer. I am HIV Positive. This is my story of how a few months, a few people, and a few events in Zambia changed me and my life forever. This is the story of how I contracted HIV and brought my Peace Corps Journey to a crashing halt... and how I am working now to pick up and put back together the pieces of my life as a newly diagnosed person living with HIV. This was not the journey I had originally planned... my path has traumatically and dramatically changed... but it is the one I am on now. There is no going back. There is only forward.
www.nogoingback-thereisonlyforward.blogspot.com

Guest blogger Aundaray Guess on Stigma and Dating

Thanks to Aundaray for letting us share this very personal, very positive message.  Check out all of his blog postings here!

The intersection of HIV disclosure and dating

This is the second in my own personal thoughts of disclosure. I say that because we all have our own disclosure which is unique to only us. Just like fingerprints, we all have them but they all differ. In this post I want to review my intersection with disclosure and dating. So as a disclaimer others may do things differently but for me when it came to dating, this is how I dealt with it.

His name was Mike-a least for this post it was, and we had just met. I was in my early twenties and had known of my status for a while and he was older, mature and experienced. It was a good connection and not one built on sex as I was afraid of this thing inside of me. We were on the same script as he wasn't looking for a one night stand either.

So what was the problem? The problem was that in all the sharing over dinners and movie dates, i never brought up my status. Looking back he didn't neither as we never had a conversation that should have been had. But by not telling I was not trying to be devious, but because-first we had just met and I didn't know him that well to share something so personal. Second-I was in a stage of fear of others finding out and if I shared it and he got upset, what would he do with the information. Thank God it wasn't today with the invention of Facebook and other social media sites where your business could be out there in a hot minute.

Third-It was the other thing I feared and unfortunately it happened. I told him as I felt the relationship was going to the next level. He didn't say anything right away. In fact he didn't say anything at all as my phone calls kept going to voice mail and any efforts to reach out to him was unsuccessful. It was the third thing I feared-rejection.

At the time I felt I was in a 'damn if I do, damn if I don't situation', Small traces of anger formed on why even bother being honest. Maybe I was marked. Why bother when you see personal ads that state 'neg-you be too' or 'no fat, no fems, no poz' Or if I dated was it to only be based on the same status rather than the organic connection/attraction. And why should I reveal? As long as I practice safe sex, then there's no need for disclosure. On top of that I convinced myself relationships are over-rated who needs them anyway.

So for a while I denied myself the ability of someone getting to close to me. I didn't want to let someone hurt me again by rejecting me. I guess I wanted to do it to you before you did it to me. When Mike pulled the disappearing act, I vowed never let someone be in the driver's seat with my emotions.

Now older I realize my life was lonely and the wall I built around myself kept people out, but I was also stuck alone behind the same walls. Going home to a silent house. Alone.

That's the wonderful thing about maturity. You get to a phase in your life where you tell yourself, if you don't want all of me, then it's your loss, not mine. I had to get to that place because by hiding behind that wall they still had the power. I had to regain my own strength.
I had to take the leap in the unknown waters and put it all in God's hand. If it's meant to be then so be it, if not then so be it as well.

I didn't want to put myself of the right 'timing game' any longer. The game of do I tell after the first date, the second or the third or when is it to late?  I just didn't want to do it no more. This is who I am.

But for those who don't or haven't disclosed I know where you're coming from. I was there. It's just that for me it was a place I no longer wanted to be.

There is no official rule book on when. I think when it comes to relationships we have to just trust that gut and do what we feel is right. I feel for me by living my life in the truth although I lost some people in my life, I gained more than I lost.

Mike you may have taught me what rejection felt like but man I have to say to you, 'you had a good thing and you lost it'.       

Dear Stigma:

Let's hope Stigma listens.  Thanks to Ciona for letting us reblog.  Check out her blog after this!




Free HIV Testing
Originally uploaded by Jeremy Brooks

Dear Stigma,

I tell people they are HIV+ for a living.

More often I am able to tell people they tested negative, which is wonderful. But sometimes I have to tell people they did, in fact, test positive.

I think of myself as an HIV test salesperson. The test is free, so I don’t make money or commission off of each person who gets a test. I’m a “salesperson,” however, because HIV tests aren’t exactly as popular as the iPhone G4. People don’t usually stand in long lines or sleep in the cold overnight waiting to see me. I’ll credit you for that, Stigma.

Instead, I approach people as they wait to see their doctor or dentist at our local non-profit health clinic and try to convince people that everyone should get tested regularly.

“Hello. My name is Ciona, and I’m just going through the clinic getting people started on a free HIV test that we offer if you’ve not had yours this year. When was your last test?”

I get a couple of different responses to this question:

• My favorite: “Let’s see . . . I think it was a couple of years ago. But sure, I’ll take another!”
• Uncomfortable giggle and wrinkled brow, followed by a slowly stammered, “I’ve . . . never . . . had one. I don’t think I . . . need an HIV test . . .” (and occasionally they’ll follow this with a whispered disclosure: I haven’t had sex in 7 years or a very loud I don't do those kinds of things).
• “Oh, I don’t want to know if I have it.” (what?!?!)
• Sheer look of horror as if while traveling from my mouth to their brains, my words transformed into, “Hello. My name is Lucifer, and I’m holding a bottle of the plague in my hand for you to drink."

And, Stigma, I’m pretty sure you’re solely responsible for the last response.

While it certainly feels much better to get to tell someone they are HIV-negative as opposed to positive, I’m pretty certain that a lot of people who don’t even know that they are positive get past me. They are some of the ones who refuse to take the test because they are afraid or because the woman sitting beside them made such a big deal about how she did NOT need an HIV test because she is married and doesn’t do any of those bad things.

So these people who manage to get through may not ever be under the care of an HIV specialist, may not ever take medicine and may not ever know their status until it’s way too late for them to manage the disease and lead a healthy life. Yes, Stigma, all because of you.

And then you creep in and do your work on people who even know they have HIV! I met a man who was emaciated and struggling to even walk. As I rolled him in a wheelchair to go take an HIV test after much convincing, he told me that he did not need a test. He said he already knew his status. He came along with me, however, because he wanted me to pretend to take his test since his sister was there with him and nobody in his family could know he was positive. I obliged because I don't think he should have to disclose his status if he doesn’t desire.

But I was also very sad. This man was not under medical care, he said, because he did not have a car and didn’t want his family to drive him to see the “AIDS doctor.” He was choosing death over telling his family he had HIV.

Stigma, you are doing a great job of helping AIDS kill people. That’s right; I’m calling you an accomplice to murder.

Would you consider retirement? Could you consider letting go of your rank so that people who may not be at risk for HIV would get over you enough to just go ahead and make an HIV test a routine practice? Then this might help normalize it for those who are at a greater risk but are nervous to step into a clinic and ask for a test. Could you consider going away so that people could feel more comfortable saying that they have HIV without people judging them or their behaviors and actually get the medical help and emotional support that they need?

Would you please die instead of killing others?

Awaiting your departure,

Ciona