HIV, Health and Migration: An Intersectional Analysis of Human Rights Vulnerabilities for People Living with HIV/AIDS During the Canadian Immigration Process

Abstract

The intersection of health and migration has become a topic of particular interest in the field of human rights. This thesis will examine how people living with HIV experience particular vulnerabilities to human rights violations during the process of immigration and settlement in Canada.

The relationship between international law and the responsibility of states to provide for the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health is challenged by national immigration procedures and global health disparities. For people living with HIV, the context of migration is exacerbated by the intersections of their health status with multiple physical, social and economic identities. Migrant PHAs experience immigration through various lenses of race, gender, economic and social class, as well as through their individual and cultural histories. Migrants to Canada are likely to see their overall health decrease the longer they live in Canada as legacies of violence, racism, and wealth disparities negatively compound limited access to social and health-related resources. An elongated view of the immigration process highlights that vulnerabilities for human rights violations occur in pre- and post-migration situations and that migration health therefore cannot be isolated in time or location.

Stigma and discrimination continue to influence Canadian HIV-policy both in public health and criminal law. As Canada continues to only meet the basic needs of migrant PHAs, they fail to uphold international human rights standards for the promotion and protection of privacy, holistic health, and freedom from discrimination. Gaps in policies based on the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Act, the Immigration Medical Exam, and HIV non-disclosure rulings by the Supreme Court are identified for their lack of explicit human rights language and offered alternatives for incorporating an intersectional perspective that recognises the lived experiences and multiple identities of PHAs; providing a continuum of care through both policy and practice.