HIV positive women appeal to traditional rulers for protection

Some HIV positive women in the Volta Region have appealed to traditional authorities in the vicinity to help uphold their rights.

The women, numbering about 15, also called on the chiefs and queen mothers to use all platforms available to them to educate their subjects against the stigmatisation of persons living with HIV.

The appeal was made at a cultural dialogue meeting organised by the International Federation of Women Lawyers, Ghana.

According to the women, stigma is still a major obstacle to their right to association, work, inheritance and ownership of property, including those they acquired themselves.

They complained that stigma is preventing a lot of people from testing voluntarily. Meanwhile, some persons who have tested HIV positive refuse to declare their statuses due to stigma and resort to indiscriminate sex.

They called on the traditional rulers to regulate the activities of some known herbalists who falsely claim they have abilities to cure HIV.