Young African Londoners affected by HIV : making sense of rights

This paper examines how young black migrant African Londoners affected by HIV/AIDS make sense of the language of rights. The paper is based on a survey and interviews with African adults infected with HIV and interviews with their HIV affected children (Chinouya 2002a). Results show tensions for children between having rights and having respect for adults, family and community. Children varied widely about wanting ‘rights’. However, many said that they did want HIV related information and decision-making capacity, accorded by rights artefacts. Although a majority of the parents believe that children should be informed about how HIV affects them, few of the children had had their information rights upheld.