By Jane Parry
The Chinese government has been urged to set up a compensation fund for the victims of an illegal blood selling scandal that resulted in thousands of people in central China in the 1990s being infected with HIV. A new report calls for a full and independent investigation into the number of people affected and an official apology to the people affected as well as compensation.
Read the full article here.
A joint statement cosigned by 12 UN bodies, including UNAIDS, last Friday, called for all “States to close compulsory drug detention and rehabilitation centers and implement voluntary, evidence-informed and rights-based health and social services in the community.” The statement noted that many of the compulsory centers violate internationally recognized human rights standards often involving physical and sexual violence or forced labor.
Journalist Paula Stromberg’s interview with the Women’s
Network for Unity (WNU), a sex workers’ union with over 6,400 members,
highlights the continuing struggle for Cambodian sex workers to be recognized
as workers, rather than as victims in need of rescue. They are speaking out
against anti-human-trafficking laws that define “all sex workers as victims, ensuring
the police arrest everyone during raids, not just children and sex slaves
locked in brothels. But we are not all victims,” says Ly Pisey, a member of
WNU. “The WNU slogan, Sex Work Is Work, demands that sex workers be taken
seriously as people having an occupation and that a distinction be made between
human trafficking and voluntary, adult sex work.” Read the rest of the article here.
It’s International Women’s Day! A statement from the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS (GCWA) highlights the HIV/AIDS situation for girls and young women. According to UNAIDS, a young woman between the ages of 15-24 becomes infected with HIV every minute. The full statement from GCWA is replicated below, and you can see UNAIDS’ statement here.
By Paul Mooney
An international NGO has issued a report urging Beijing to provide
compensation to tens of thousands of victims of the 1990s HIV-tainted
blood disaster, and arguing a fund is urgently needed as victims have
been unable to get fair compensation on their own.
“China has a historic opportunity to make things right for the victims
of the world’s largest HIV/Aids disaster,” said Sara Davis, executive
director of Asia Catalyst and a co-author of the report.
Read the full article here.
Download the Asia Catalyst/Korekata report.
