Trabajando en Positivo
The Coordinadora Trabajando en Positivo is a network of 16 entities present in 10 Autonomous Communities, which work on the national response to HIV within Spain.
We combine support for people in situations of social exclusion, to improve their employability, with the sensitization and awareness of the agents involved in the workplace. In addition, we support companies to improve their social commitment. This commitment occurs in the areas of human rights, diversity management, equal opportunities and non-discrimination, as well as in the area of social action.
Since 2014, we have been promoting the project “Responsible companies with HIV and AIDS in Spain”. This project makes tools available to companies, so that they become involved in the promotion of non-discrimination. And so, that they also become involved in the prevention of Sexually Transmitted Infections (including HIV).
Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights establishes that:
Work is a human right. According to data from several studies and reports carried out in Spain, the reality of people with HIV in relation to access and permanence in the labor market is characterized by a high level of unemployment. This unemployment reaches over 50% in Spain.
Among the factors that aggravate this situation is not age, 63% of people with HIV in Spain are between 20 and 49 years old, which is the most productive period of the human being. Neither is a lack of interest of the person to work, since most would want to get a job and therefore seeks employment.
Unfortunately, the lack of information, myths, stigma and discrimination associated with the disease are the factors that make impossible for people with HIV to access employment or stay in jobs. Some of these people have experienced discrimination and rejection. In Spain, 25.8% of the people surveyed would feel between something and totally uncomfortable if any / a work partner had HIV, and 23.7% would try to avoid it. This survey is according to the study “Evolution of the Beliefs and Attitudes of the Spanish Population towards People with HIV between 2008 and 2012”, of SEISIDA (Spanish Interdisciplinary Society of AIDS).