India: AIDS Fueled by Abuses Against Children

[Guest guest]

India: AIDS Fueled by Abuses Against Children

Children Affected by HIV/AIDS Face Lethal Discrimination and

Exploitation

(New Delhi, July 29, 2004) - India's explosive AIDS epidemic is

being fueled by widespread abuses against children who are affected

by HIV/AIDS, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.

The Indian government's failure to address these abuses is

undermining its anti-AIDS policy and putting millions of lives at

risk.

The 209-page report, " Future Forsaken: Abuses Against Children

Affected by HIV/AIDS in India, " documents that many doctors refuse

to treat or even touch HIV-positive children. Some schools expel or

segregate children because they or their parents are HIV-positive.

Many orphanages and other residential institutions reject HIV-

positive children or deny that they house them. Children from

families affected by AIDS may be denied an education, pushed onto

the street, forced into the worst forms of child labor, or otherwise

exploited, all of which puts them at greater risk of contracting HIV.

" Children are being turned away from schools, clinics and orphanages

because they or their family members are HIV-positive, " said Zama

Coursen-Neff, senior researcher with Human Rights Watch's Children's

Rights Division and author of the report. " If the Indian government

is serious about fighting the country's AIDS epidemic, it should

stop ignoring children affected by AIDS and start protecting them

from abuse. "

In India hundreds of thousands of children are living with HIV/AIDS,

according to official statistics. Children of parents with HIV/AIDS

suffer in turn: many are forced to withdraw from school to care for

sick parents, are forced to work to replace their parents' income,

or are orphaned.

Although the government has not conducted studies to assess the

number of children affected by AIDS, some experts calculate that

more than 1 million children under age 15 have lost one or both

parents to HIV/AIDS. The Indian government estimates that 5.1

million people are living with HIV/AIDS in India.

Street children, child sex workers and children of sex workers,

children from lower castes and Dalits (or " untouchables " ) suffer

even more as they also face other forms of discrimination. Sexual

abuse and violence against women and girls, coupled with their long-

standing subordination in Indian society, make them especially

vulnerable to HIV transmission. Girls are also more likely to be

pulled out of school to care for a sick family member or to take

over domestic work. When living with HIV/AIDS, they may be the last

in the family to receive medical care.

Many children-and the professionals who care for them-are not

getting the information about HIV they need to protect themselves or

to combat discrimination. Fewer than half of all secondary schools

offer any AIDS education. Those that do teach about HIV/AIDS do so

at an age when most children, especially girls, have already dropped

out. And the government is utterly failing to provide information to

millions of India's children who are not in school but on the

streets, at work, in institutions, in non-formal schools and at

home.

" Children need accurate information to protect themselves from

HIV/AIDS, "

said Coursen-Neff. " But the most vulnerable children are those

who've dropped out of school, and they're the ones who are least

likely to get lifesaving information about HIV prevention. "

Misinformation and fear also cause some families to reject children

who are HIV-positive or who are perceived to be. Although some state

governments, like that of Tamil Nadu, have begun programs to educate

the public, most have not.

" Many teachers, doctors, government officials and ordinary people in

India still don't know the basic facts about HIV transmission and

AIDS care, " Coursen-Neff said.

In addition, many HIV-positive children are denied medical care

because government facilities are either unavailable or lack basic

medical supplies.

Struggling families caring for HIV/AIDS-affected children find it

even harder to pay school fees and related costs, further preventing

some children from attending school.

Some government officials have started to speak out about the need

to reach children who are seen to be " innocent victims. " But

children who face high risk of HIV, such as street children or child

sex workers, are blamed for their " bad behavior " and their needs

ignored.

Human Rights Watch called on the Indian government to take immediate

action to:

.. Enact and enforce legislation proscribing discrimination against

people living with HIV/AIDS. Among other things, such legislation

should specify that children may never be barred from school solely

because they are HIV-positive.

.. Ensure that children living with HIV/AIDS receive all available

medical care, including antiretroviral treatment.

.. Address school fees and related costs that keep children,

especially girls, from going to school. Children in school are

generally less vulnerable to HIV/AIDS.

.. Provide care and protection to children whose parents are unable

to care for them because of HIV/AIDS.

.. Provide all children, both in and out of school, with

comprehensive, accurate and age-appropriate information about

HIV/AIDS.

Testimonies of children and parents from the report, " Future

Forsaken " :

" Anu P., " a 6-year-old in Maharashtra, was sent home from

kindergarten in

2003 by her teacher, who instructed Anu's older sister to tell

her " please not to come again to the school. " Her grandfather, who

had been caring for Anu and her siblings after their parents died of

AIDS, explained, " The teacher didn't allow her to come to school

because she believes Anu is HIV-positive. I believe that other

parents were talking amongst themselves, so the teacher said she

shouldn't come. " Her grandfather said he was afraid that if he

protested, Anu's older sister might be sent away from school as

well. A nearby private doctor told Anu's family not to bring the

girl to his clinic " because if you do, other people won't come.' "

The reason the man gave, her uncle said, was because of HIV. Anu's

66 year-old grandmother had been taking her on foot to the

government hospital, but the distance had become too far for her to

walk, her grandfather explained.

" Sharmila A., " age 10, was HIV-positive and had lost both of her

parents to AIDS. She stopped going to school in the fourth

grade. " When I went to school, I sat separately from the other

children, in the last mat. I sat alone. The other children wanted to

be with me, but the teacher would tell them not to play with me. She

said, 'This disease will spread to you also, so do not play with

her,' " Sharmila said. When she developed tuberculosis, she began

traveling some four to five hours to reach a government-run hospital

for free medical care. However, the hospital in Tamil Nadu did not

provide antiretroviral drugs, and her health did not improve.

Sharmila died in January 2004.

" Kannammal P. " put her oldest daughter in an orphanage when she

became unable to care for all of her children, she told us. Shortly

thereafter, her husband was diagnosed with HIV. She went back to the

orphanage and asked them for help. Instead, she said, " they asked

the child to be tested, and then they wanted her to leave. . . .

Despite pleading with the school authorities, they said, 'Sorry,

please find another place. We are not free to take her.' " Her

daughter's HIV test, she said, was negative.

" Future Forsaken: Abuses Against Children Affected by HIV/AIDS in

India "

will be available in English: http://hrw.org/reports/2004/india0704/