THE MATTER OF HIV/AIDS in Barbados cannot be “business as usual” in the workplace.
Each one of us here today has to be a foot soldier for change in our attitudes, our demeanour, our respect for people living with HIV/AIDS. It cannot be business as usual if after 20 years of mobilization, sensitization, education, research and communication tools, overt and covert messages are sent by all media.
We cannot as a society speak meaningfully and intelligently about sex, sexual intercourse, sexual orientation and transgender issues without saying “not me” and using offensive words to denigrate others or sniggering or distancing ourselves from the subject.
We still remain very sexually immature in terms of our ability to seriously deal with the multiple risk factors that confront us as a society.
It cannot be business as usual if we deny access to people seeking help at a Government department – if they are turned and twisted around because they are positive or perceived to be positive.
It cannot be business as usual if in a given workplace, public or private, individuals receive subtle or overt cues that they are unwanted, tasks are withdrawn, barriers both physical and psychological are erected to deny them full access to work and the enjoyment of work.
It cannot be business as usual if we sit in privileged positions with access to personal information and breach confidentiality by disclosing an individual’s status.
It will be “business as usual” when we as a society, as a people, evolve to the point where an HIV-positive person can disclose his status comfortably and feel no fear of threats, torment or ridicule and takes his or her rightful place in the Barbadian landscape.
What joy must exist today in the hearts of the differently abled society to hear our Prime Minister announce that the President of the Senate is a member of that community.
We must ask ourselves what we can do differently in our work environment.
Do we fully understand HIV disease? Have we created an environment in our workplace that is empowering, supportive, respectful?
Have we, as parents and guardians, spoken enough, educated our children on the risk factors of HIV? Have we been proactive in our prevention?
What measures/ policies/programmes has our HR department instituted to deal with HIV?
Have we created a safe space for someone to disclose? And if they do, how will we deal with it?
Will we show love, understanding and compassion?
Should we not consider seeking the assistance of the AIDS Foundation and engage them to conduct a baseline survey of the attitudes of our staff?
I want to offer some food for thought. Sex happens in the workplace; I did not say sex activity happens at work. Risky sex, too! Relationships are forged. People meet and connect.
We need to step outside our comfort zones.
Why not make condoms available in male and female bathrooms? Why not dispense them as well through our sick bays, Nurses’ Unit, and among medical teams.
If we keep people safe, continually remind them about the risk factors, and keep them negative, we have a healthy, happy and productive workforce. This should be our ultimate goal.
When we say, “Kiss stigma and discrimination good-bye,” let us all genuinely mean what we say and live up to those words.