Legalise prostitution and homosexuality - Ndadi

ISAAC PINIELO
Correspondent | Wednesday June 16, 2010 00:00

 

Speaking at the Human Rights HIV/AIDS awareness campaign that was held at the Galo Shopping Complex in Francistown on Saturday, Ndadi said although Botswana has well-celebrated treatment programmes, it still remains the hub of HIV and AIDS in the world.

This, he noted, is because there are many gaps in the response to the deadly scourge of HIV/AIDS. 'We need to identify these gaps and plug them. I note that the world is moving towards universality and human rights for all irrespective of status or sexual orientation,' he said.

He reiterated the earlier call by the United Nations (UN) chief, Ban Kin Moon on all states to abolish all laws that hinder the effective response to HIV such as laws criminalising sex work and homosexuality. He added that BONELA is alive to the fact that the foregoing issues are contentious and to some unpalatable. He said the spirit of denial has and continues to reverse the gains made in seeking to defeat the epidemic. 'Otherwise 2016, the year of zero HIV infections, will remain a pipe dream. As it is, it remains an impractical dream,' said Ndadi.

He however expressed appreciation to the National AIDS Council that is chaired by former president Festus Mogae, saying it is now alive and responsive to the issues on the ground. 'I could not help but celebrate when I heard the Minister of Health say we will regret if we do not provide prisoners with condoms. I for one felt vindicated. Preserving lives is to BONELA more paramount than morality.

For if lives are preserved, who knows, such preserved lives may later join and conform to certain religious doctrines. And God shall gladly receive them,' he indicated.

Ndadi's main contention is that because people live in a world that presents unique challenges, they need to apply unique interventions. He noted that the era of business as usual belongs in the past.

'We are not promoting or creating any situation, we are rather addressing what is real. Burying our heads in the sand in the name of religion and morality is counterproductive. God doesn't want his folk to perish, I believe,' he stressed.

Ndadi has also alleged that some of the country's laws fuel the epidemic. 'For instance, criminalising living off the proceeds of prostitution is useful to the extent that it drives sex workers underground. I see no sex worker declaring that they live out of the proceeds of sex work.

They may say that they give all the money they make to BONELA. That in itself is a valid defence as the law only criminalises making a living out of sex work. How many sex workers have been charged and prosecuted? Zero!' said the director.

According to Ndadi, sex between two adults of the same sex normally occurs in private and there is no way law enforcements agents can tell that the law has been violated. 'The existence of this law is also unmeritorious. It only achieves driving homosexuals underground and far away from accessing empowering information about prevention and management of HIV,' he said.

He suggested that the prudent thing to do is to reform the laws to be consistent with present realities. 'We love our country and our people so much so that we wouldn't like to lose anyone to otherwise avoidable HIV infections,' he concluded.