Combating workplace discrimination on the basis of HIV status through disability law in Zambia

Abstract

Zambia has within the last two decades enacted several pieces of legislation aimed at enhancing equality in the labour market and the workplace. However, despite being one of the countries that has been severely devastated by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, Zambia does not yet have specific legislation targeted at HIV-related stigma and discrimination in the labour market and workplace. Apart from the general prohibitions against discrimination on the basis of health or social status, it remains to be seen whether concepts such as reasonable accommodation have a place in the fight against discrimination and stigma of HIV/AIDS in the Zambian workplace. The purpose of this article is not to argue for the enactment of HIV/AIDS specific legislation in Zambia but to instead argue that despite the absence of such legislation, HIV/AIDS discrimination and stigma can be addressed within the context of the Country’s existing disability discrimination law. The arguments advanced in this article are considered largely within the context of the Zambian High Court case of Stanley Kingaipe & Another v The Attorney General.