A study for people living with HIV, carried out by people living with HIV, this project focused on face-to-face interviews with people to capture their experiences of stigma. Landmark study the People Living with HIV Stigma Index Aotearoa New Zealand, is the first of its kind in Aotearoa. Through interviews with people living with HIV and assessments of the general public's attitudes toward and understanding of HIV, a picture can be painted of what HIV stigma looks like in Aotearoa.
Measuring HIV stigma isn't simple, but it is possible. This means, that HIV stigma is still prevalent and very harmful - often people living with HIV report this is the most harmful of living with the virus today. Unfortunately, people's attitudes toward HIV have not come quite as far as the treatments have.
We once again have a sign that we are starting to halt the epidemic.Įffective treatment means that people living with HIV can live long healthy lives without the fear of transmission through sex or pregnancy. We believe this means we are seeing the continued impact of local HIV prevention, like PrEP and condom use, and HIV testing efforts that allow for people to be diagnosed early and access medication to live healthy lives without the risk of passing HIV to their sexual partners (see U=U). Seeing a reduction in this group of diagnoses gives us a good idea about the declining HIV incidence in Aotearoa. In 2020, 49 MSM were diagnosed with HIV and thought to have contracted the virus in New Zealand, a 15.5% decrease from 2019 numbers, and 50.5% decrease from the peak in 2016.Īmong MSM, we have also seen a decline in the number of people diagnosed with high CD4 cell counts, indicating a recent infection. Furthermore, the number of locally acquired infections, especially among men who have sex with men (MSM), has continued to decrease. We can also see a decline among cases acquired in New Zealand, so it appears we remain on a path to ending local HIV transmission.Ī total of 162 cases were notified for 2020 – a decrease from the 212 reported in 2019 and 185 in 2018. The latest HIV numbers out of the University of Otago AIDS Epidemiology Group are encouraging, despite some uncertainties around COVID-19 impacts on testing volumes. This represents a decrease from 2019 numbers, and the lowest figure since 2012. I don't think anyone is going to actually be stoned to death.In 2020, 162 people were first known to be infected with HIV in New Zealand. But there's a large LGBT community there and they're all pretty open about it. People can only be convicted if they confess, or if there are at least four witnesses.Īs one former expat told the South China Morning Post: "Brunei is just replicating what Arab countries have done to appease, to gain as an Islamic country. However, many people who have lived and worked in Brunei say the new laws are mostly symbolic.
Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Phil Robertson described the new penal code as “barbaric to the core”, and called on Hassanal Bolkiah to immediately suspend the punishments. Meanwhile, Virgin Australia cancelled a travel agreement which allowed staff to book discounted tickets on Royal Brunei Airlines. - Helen Clark March 28, 2019Ī number of celebrities added their voices to the outcry, with George Clooney leading calls for a boycott of luxury hotels owned by the Sultan of Brunei, including The Dorchester in London and Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles. Hard to comprehend what could be driving such a barbaric move which stands in stark opposition to fundamental #humanrights principles. Shocking news from #Brunei ?? where new penal code provides for death by stoning as punishment for gay sex. “New Zealand has always stood against the death penalty, in all its forms, for any reason New Zealand has also stood firmly in favour of the right of our rainbow community to live their lives, freely, openly and without fear for their safety.”įormer Prime Minister and United Nations Development Programme Administrator Helen Clark said on Twitter it was “hard to comprehend what could be driving such a barbaric move which stands in stark opposition to fundamental human rights principles”. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told TVNZ’s 1 News the sultan’s decision challenged two specific issues which New Zealand is opposed to. We are also deeply concerned at the use of punishments that are cruel, inhuman or degrading.”
New Zealand opposes any kind of discrimination, including on the basis of sexual orientation. “It is seriously regrettable that Brunei’s decision contravenes a number of international norms on human rights. On March 31, New Zealand’s Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters issued a statement expressing concern at Brunei’s implementation of Sharia law. Hassanal Bolkiah is the Sultan and Prime Minister of Brunei.