HIV/AIDS has brought to the forefront the exploitation of vulnerable populations in society such as homosexuals, people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) and injecting drug users. Success in stemming the pandemic, however, is premised on empowering these vulnerable groups. The challenge for any NGO in attaining success in a field like HIV/AIDS depends on understanding social reality in a holistic sense. The Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS Unit (LCHA) in Mumbai, India, attempts to do that in taking up the challenge of being a leader in the legal arena in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

The Lawyers Collective is a public interest law group established in 1981 to meet the unmet legal needs of society – particularly vulnerable groups such as women, children, disabled persons, workers and the underprivileged. In 1987, LCHA started taking on cases for persons affected by HIV/AIDS. LCHA's philosophical underpinning is that any one person can only have a partial understanding of social reality. Moreover, those who are not personally affected by a particular issue will only have a more or less abstract understanding of that social reality. On the other hand, those who are affected also have an experiential understanding, which is primarily subjective. Thus, to have a holistic understanding of social reality, one must be involved in a discourse with the persons affected. This allows the partial to become whole and the subjective to merge with the objective. This is not a matter of political correctness, but an approach that goes to the root of intervention in social reality. Involving vulnerable populations in its programmes is the essential for LHCA's work. With the understanding gained from this approach, LCHA influences stakeholders in the HIV field.

Advocacy and empowerment

LCHA employs a two-fold strategy: on the one hand, we influence stakeholders through advocacy. On the other hand, we empower vulnerable groups, including PLWHAs, to assert their rights. LCHA started advocacy among the judiciary, parliamentarians, policy-makers, NGOs, community-based organisations (CBOs), lawyers, trade unions and the media to sensitise them regarding the legal and ethical issues faced by PLWHAs. The law is a tool not only to sensitise leaders, but also to educate laypersons about their rights and obligations. The main areas of advocacy have been the health-care and employment sectors, and vulnerable populations. LCHA also started a campaign on access to treatment.

LCHA has been informing people about their rights and providing legal services to PLWHAs since its inception. The Collective has played a major role in helping people assert their rights, bringing justice to those who have been wronged. The discrimination and stigma faced by PLWHAs has brought into focus gross violations of human rights. For example, people have lost their jobs because they were HIV-positive. There is a palpable reluctance among employers to keep the services of HIV-positive employees, mainly because of their own ignorance and fears. People in the prime of their working life are being forced to leave jobs or denied employment due to their HIV status. The resultant economic deprivation leads to poverty, poor health, family problems and children unable to access education. The law has helped in righting these wrongs.

Women face harassment and encounter problems with regard to maintenance and their share of the matrimonial property. Their problems are heightened after the death of their husbands. In spite of the inherent biases in the personal laws regarding succession, maintenance and custody, women have effectively used the law to enforce their rights.

Public interest litigation

Public interest litigation related to PLWHAs' right to marry, services offered by "quacks", health care in hospitals, funds allocated to the State AIDS Control Organisation and the use of these funds have been filed by LCHA in various courts in India. One of the main success stories has been the creative use of law by obtaining a right from the courts to be able to sue while suppressing one's identity. Through this method, PLWHAs can sue in court anonymously, without revealing their identity. This strategy has been a source of empowerment for PLWHAs.

Only when people are empowered are they in a position to carry the baton of leadership in the fight against stigmatisation and discrimination of PLWHAs. This is the challenge for LCHA. We have completed only a part of this role: there is still a long road ahead.