Background

There are currently approximately 750,000 reported cases of people living with HIV in China, with three quarters of these being of working age. While China has managed to keep overall HIV prevalence rates low, it has not been able to stop the spread of the harmful stigma and discrimination that accompanies the virus.

Despite better knowledge about HIV and efforts by the Chinese authorities to combat it, discrimination against people living with HIV (PLHIV) and their families remains rampant in China today. Discrimination against PLHIV has led to workers losing their jobs or being excluded from work in different economic sectors, thus impacting their ability to earn a livelihood and provide for their families. Mandatory HIV testing for the purpose of employment is common in China. As a result, people living with HIV are deprived of opportunities to work as civil servants or teachers, or to take up other positions in the public institutions, such as government-supported research organizations, laboratories, schools, universities, publishing houses and others. They are also barred from working as seafarers and, in some provinces, they cannot work in hotels, restaurant, beauty salons, coffee bars and other workplaces.

The project under the framework of the Plan of the Joint UN Team on AIDS in China will build capacity of the PLHIV community to address discrimination in employment, strengthen the information sharing with stakeholders and promote equal employment for PLHIV with labour authorities.

Project objective

The project will

• Build the capacity of the PLHIV community to address discrimination
• Provide the best practice on reducing discrimination in employment from other countries to inform the policy change in China
• Increase the awareness of rights of PLHIV in employment among law school students, the future judges and lawyers in China

Project beneficiaries

The project’s ultimate beneficiaries are workers living with HIV. The direct beneficiaries include the PLHIV community, teachers and students in IHR of the China University of Political Science and Law, and labour officials in related authorities.

Project partners

China Labour Studies Institute MOHRSS, Institute for Human Rights (IHR) - China University of Political Science and Law, PLHIV community

For further information please contact

Ms Wu Rulian
Program Officer
ILO Country Office for China and Mongolia
Tel: +86 10 6532 5091