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Legal Assistance
One of BONELA’s primary aims is to increase access to justice for people living with HIV/AIDS and make it a reality by ensuring that it is affordable, accessible and available.
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LEGAL AID CLINIC
BONELA operates a legal aid programme aimed at providing legal services for individuals who are facing discrimination on the basis of their HIV status. The legal aid ranges from offering legal advice, mediating cases, to engaging in litigation. The legal aid clinic is now housed at BONELA and is coordinated by the Legal Officer.
BONELA assists individuals who believe they have been discriminated against based on their HIV status, for example, losing their jobs arbitrarily, defamation, medical malpractice and other situations in which someone feels their rights have been violated. The legal assistance programme may also help with issues of will preparation and the administration of deceased estates.
In Botswana, one of the major challenges is the issue of HIV/AIDS and employment. In the past three years, BONELA has been successful in litigation involving individuals who were unfairly dismissed from work because of their HIV status.
Prior to April 2006 when BONELA grew to incorporate an in-house attorney, the legal aid programme was supported by a private law firm based in Gaborone, which generously provided its services pro bono. This made it possible to represent clients in court who could not afford to pay for legal services.
Individuals in Botswana who are seeking legal assistance to redress situations of HIV-related discrimination are welcome to make an appointment with BONELA’s Legal Officer for consideration of their case at (+267) 393-2516.
Legal Education and Sensitisation Workshops
When people cannot come to the workshops, the workshops can go to the people. BONELA will hit the road around Botswana in 2006 and 2007 to conduct legal workshops on how the law relates to HIV/AIDS as well as offering a mobile legal clinic to offer legal services for people who are facing discrimination on the basis of the HIV status.
The thematic areas that will be covered include:
- Employment law
- Criminal law
- Will writing
- Family law
These topics were identified by participants of BONELA’s awareness-raising activities, training workshops and legal aid as the significant areas of interest for people in Botswana. Requests have been received by BONELA to increase levels of awareness on these issues within the general population and build the capacity of service providers and employers for policy reform where required.
The legal education and sensitisation workshops will target such stakeholders as: social workers; teachers and parent-teacher associations; student organisations; trade unions and the NGO community; and, in particular, youth, and men’s and women’s organisations. They will be held around the country to stay in line with BONELA’s efforts to reach out to the diverse communities of Botswana.
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