Stakeholders meet to discuss issues affecting key populations |20 October 2017
Stakeholders are meeting at the Savoy Hotel & Spa for the Seychelles national convening on reducing stigma, discrimination and violence against key populations who are the main drivers of the HIV epidemic.
The convening being held since yesterday is aimed at getting the views and consensus of all stakeholders so as to develop an action plan for national advocacy programmes that will address issues with all concerned stakeholders so as to protect key populations from being abused thus respecting their rights as an individual.
The national convening is being organised by the National Aids Council (NAC) and the Aids & Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (Arasa), through the funding from the Global Fund.
Key populations in Seychelles are sex workers (male and female), men who have sex with men, prison inmates, people who use and inject drugs. Other key populations like gay, lesbian, transgender, bi-sexual and intersex person, also fall prey to stigmatisation, discrimination and violence.
Stigma is referred to as unfavourable attitudes and beliefs placed on someone for being and behaving differently. To discriminate is to treat an individual or group with prejudice and judgment and violence is the act of aggression against the other.
In relation to HIV & Aids, stigmatising, discriminating and violence against key populations, discourages them from getting access to health care services, counselling, HIV disclosure, HIV testing and prevention of mother to child HIV transmission services among others. It may also result in the loss of employment, rejection by family and community, denied housing, education and even marriage.
In an integrated and biological survey made in 2011 on people who inject drugs (PWID) 51% received verbal insult with 83.4 % forced to have sexual intercourse. 54% of men having sex with men (MSM) were arrested while 2% were beaten. As for the same survey done in 2015 on sex workers, 37% experienced violence while 52% was arrested.
The participants engaged in discussions and group work yesterday, along with presentations from various presenters. The Seychelles national convening on reducing violence and discrimination against key populations ends this afternoon.
Present at the opening session of the convening yesterday were the Minister of Health Jean-Paul Adam; chief executive of the NAC, Doctor Anne Gabriel; Arasa regional advocacy officer Nthabiseng Mokoena, other health officials, representatives from other ministries, UNDP officials, NAC board members, members of the civil society, faith based organisations, other stakeholders and key populations themselves.
Opening the meeting after a reflection by Reverend Christine Benoit and entertainment by Achille Luc, Dr Gabriel said the convening was special as it involved people of various backgrounds.
“It is not the usual gathering of minds, which is dominated by policy makers, decision makers and services providers; this time, we are gathering together mostly with the very people we pledge to service with dignity, putting them first and at the centre of our programmes - so early in our careers for most of us, doctors, nurses, social workers, police officers, teachers, counsellors and outreach workers,” Dr Gabriel said, as she reminded the delegates to be frank and to discuss openly the strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and gaps in the services for key populations.
Dr Gabriel thanked Arasa for its financial and technical support and wished all delegates a good deliberation.
Arasa facilitator Mokoena said, “It is through the Africa Regional Grant on HIV that we are here today. To provide a platform for us to engage in evidence-informed discussions on HIV, TB, key populations and human rights, to share information and experiences, to share good practices and functional models on dealing with stigma, discrimination and violence and to review our efforts and responses to HIV and TB. We need to have discussions and seek solutions on how we can close the gaps, especially in regards to coordination of the national response and improving access and availability of care”.
The chairperson of the Lesbian Gay Bi-Sexual Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) Ronny Arnephy said that stigma, discrimination and violence is still happening in Seychelles with the only difference now is that the victims know where to go when abused and that the police who in the past were also part and parcel abusers of key populations are more lenient in their approach.