HIV is a major obstacle to employment security. People living with HIV may be unable to find or maintain employment as a result of ill health. However, evidence from the People Living with HIV Stigma Index (PLHIV Stigma Index) reveals that HIV-related stigma and discrimination are as frequently or more frequently a cause of unemployment/denial of work opportunity as ill health in many national settings.
This evidence brief has been prepared by the Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+), and was funded by the ILO Programme on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work (ILO/AIDS). It includes PLHIV Stigma Index findings from nine countries in four regions: Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia (sub-Saharan Africa), Estonia and Poland (Eastern Europe), Malaysia and the Philippines (Asia-Pacific,) and Argentina and Mexico (South America). PLHIV Stigma Index data clearly shows that HIV-related stigma and discrimination directly impede access to work by people living with HIV by:
- obstructing entry to the labour market
- changing the type of work individuals are allowed to perform
- preventing promotion to more senior positions
- triggering people being fired from their jobs
- impeding access to adult education and training
A poster presentation with a summary of its findings are available here.
