An injury to one is an injury to all!
“Whenever I go to the clinic, they would always ask “why do I do my job, why do I sell my body, isn’t there any other job I can do besides selling my body?” I have even decided not to go to the clinic anymore because of the treatment that I get there. Anytime I went to the clinic, I always came back heartbroken because of the way I was treated”
Going to the clinic can be a traumatic experience for people who use drugs, sex workers, & people from the LGBTQIA+ community. Too often staff are rude and discriminatory, be it at the clinic gate, in waiting areas, or even during medical consultations. Disgraceful privacy violations continue to occur that destroy people’s right to privacy and make clinics feel unsafe and uncomfortable to be in. Where this has become unbearable, some people have stopped going to the facility altogether.
Where key populations do continue to suffer the daily indignities of using the public health system, specific services – including condoms, lubricants, PrEP, PEP, gender affirming care, harm reduction services – remain unavailable, or are not offered or denied to members of key populations.
It is morally unacceptable and a violation of constitutional rights that people who use drugs, sex workers, and LGBTQIA+ communities are disrespected, humiliated, and dehumanised at public health facilities, and not offered appropriate and quality services.
In 2021, to better document this crisis, Ritshidze began carrying out an annual survey among people who use drugs, sex workers, and queer and trans people. More than 50,000 people have been surveyed to date. The results of the data are documented in annual State of Healthcare for Key Populations reports available here, that have been put to duty bearers for urgent action.
“The nurse came out and said, “Magosha, why are you late? I cried and she continued stigmatising me… I waited until they closed. I ended up not getting my ARVs. I don’t want to go back to a public health facility”
“I am scared to go to the clinic. I would rather die than go”
“The nurse gave me my pills in front of everyone and said “we are really tired of you, who knows maybe you are smoking these pills. Why can’t you just die because you’ve already killed yourself with drugs. You don’t even bathe and don’t like yourself”. I was offended as everyone was staring at me, some were blocking their noses while others were taking pictures”
