Poor legal services fuel Kenya AIDS epidemic-report
NAIROBI, April 16 (Reuters) - Kenya has failed to provide adequate legal services to its 2.5 million HIV/AIDS patients, undermining ground made in prevention and treatment in the east African nation, a leading advocacy group said on Monday.
Costly legal services leave Kenyans vulnerable to human rights abuses -- including sexual violence, discrimination, property grabbing and police abuse -- which fuel the deadly epidemic, the Open Society Institute (OSI) said in a report.
"Access to justice for people living with AIDS can be just as important as access to health care," said Binaifer Nowrojee, OSI east Africa Initiative Director, said in a statement.
The report said those whose rights are violated face slow and corrupt courts and traditional authorities who are unaware or unwilling to apply statutory law.
OSI found that available legal services do not adequately protect women who are subject to domestic violence and unequal access to property, leaving them trapped in marriages with a high risk of HIV, or destitute upon divorce.
The criminalisation of prostitution and homosexuality were also driving those in need from legal aid, the report added.
Over 100,000 Kenyans die every year from the deadly disease, experts say, with the majority of new infections occurring in young people, especially women aged between 15-24 years.
"Just as it is possible to scale up HIV-related health services such as condoms ... it is also necessary to scale up HIV-related legal services," the report's co-author Jonathan Cohen said while calling on major donors like the World Bank to provide funding.
