Nairobi— Kenya is failing to provide adequate legal services to people living with and at risk of HIV and AIDS. Lack of legal assistance threatens to undo the gains made by increased access to HIV prevention, care and treatment services, the Open Society Initiative for East Africa (OSIEA) and OSI’s Law and Health Initiative (LAHI) said in a new report today.

The 40-page report, Ensuring Justice for Vulnerable Communities in Kenya, describes a range of human rights abuses fuelling Kenya’s HIV epidemic, such as sexual violence, discrimination, property grabbing, and police abuse. Legislation passed in January protects the rights of people with HIV in Kenya, but the law cannot be implemented without affordable legal services.

Stephen Lewis, former United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, called on Kenya and its international donors to place human rights at the center of their HIV responses. “Kenya owes it to millions of people living with HIV to live up to its human rights obligations,” said Lewis. “People with HIV are denied legal services that are critical to protect their rights and their health.”

OSIEA and LAHI also launched a groundbreaking funding initiative to link HIV services with human rights and legal protection in Kenya. The initiative will integrate legal services into HIV and AIDS programs, with links to economic security and other services for Kenya’s most vulnerable persons.

“Access to justice for people living with AIDS can be as important as access to health care,” said Binaifer Nowrojee, OSIEA Director. “How can someone survive on HIV treatment if she is beaten by her spouse and evicted from her home with her children?”

In January, Kenya passed landmark legislation protecting the rights of people living with HIV. But the country lacks a state-sponsored legal aid system to enforce the law’s protections. Vulnerable people are left to seek assistance from private lawyers and charitable organizations to fill the gap. People whose rights are violated face slow and corrupt courts, expensive legal fees, and traditional authorities unaware of or unwilling to apply statutory law.

AIDS experts have documented a range of human rights violations fuelling HIV in Kenya. Domestic violence and unequal access to property leaves women trapped in marriages that pose a high risk of HIV infection, or destitute upon divorce. Criminalization of sex workers, men who have sex with men, and people who use drugs leads to police violence and drives vulnerable groups from needed HIV services. Sexual exploitation of children and young adults contribute to their HIV risk, in addition to worsening the impact of the epidemic.

“Just as it is possible to scale up HIV-related health services such as condoms, antiretroviral treatment, and palliative care, it is also necessary to scale up HIV-related legal services,” said Jonathan Cohen, LAHI Director and co-author of the report. “The AIDS epidemic provides new urgency for legal aid reform in Kenya.”

The report calls on the Kenyan government and major donors such as the United States, United Kingdom, World Bank, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to fund legal services as an integral part of their AIDS programs.

“It is time for the Kenyan legal community to join hands with health advocates to improve the quality of life for those living with AIDS,” said Binaifer Nowrojee.

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