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http://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/05/covid-19-pandemic-restrictions-magnified-discrimination-against-most-marginalized-groups/


May 31, 2022
Covid-19: Pandemic restrictions magnified discrimination against most marginalized groups
Marginalized groups, including LGBTI+ people, sex workers, people who
use drugs, and those experiencing homelessness, were disproportionately impacted by Covid-19 regulations that exposed them to further
discrimination and human rights abuses, Amnesty International said in a
new report today assessing the impact of pandemic restrictions across
the globe.

Based on an online survey of 54 civil society organizations in 28
countries, the report documents how an overly punitive approach to the enforcement of Covid-19 regulations—that saw people fined, arrested and jailed for non-compliance with public health measures— resulted in
already marginalized groups facing increased harassment and violence
from security forces. The approach also left them with reduced access to essential services including food, healthcare and housing.

More than two thirds of survey respondents (69%) said that state
responses to Covid-19 had exacerbated the negative impact of
pre-existing laws and regulations that criminalized and marginalized the
people they work with. Of these, 90% reported that the communities they
work with were specifically targeted and/or disproportionately impacted
when Covid-19 measures were enforced. Among other punitive measures, organizations reported the widespread use of fines, arrests, cautions,
written warnings and police orders to “move on” or stay away from a
public place.

“Though Covid-19 measures may have varied from country to country, governments’ approaches to tackling the pandemic have had a common
failing. An overemphasis on using punitive sanctions against people for non-compliance with regulations, rather than supporting them to better
comply, had a grossly disproportionate effect on those who already faced systematic discrimination,” said Rajat Khosla, Amnesty International’s Senior Director of Policy.

People who lost their livelihoods overnight and people experiencing homelessness were criminalized for not adhering to Covid-19 measures,
rather than being supported to access housing or other essentials

Rajat Khosla, Amnesty International’s Senior Director of Policy
“When governments use punitive approaches to enforce public health
measures, it simply makes it harder to comply. People who lost their livelihoods overnight and people experiencing homelessness were
criminalized for not adhering to Covid-19 measures, rather than being
supported to access housing or other essentials.

“This short-sightedness left these groups at the mercy of violent and discriminatory policing and drove people to take riskier decisions to
meet their basic needs, resulting in preventable illness, deaths and a
wide array of human rights abuses.”

Punitive policing

Groups who were already over-policed before the pandemic have
experienced discrimination, unlawful use of force and arbitrary
detentions by security forces.

The overarching majority (71%) of the 54 organizations who responded to
Amnesty International’s survey stated that people from the communities
they work with, including sex workers, people who use drugs, LGBTI
people and people in need of abortion, were punished for breaching
Covid-19 measures.

According to the Mexican human rights organization Elementa, the
country’s punitive “war on drugs” has enabled police forces to target people who use or possess drugs through the enforcement of Covid-19
related measures. In an alarming case that sparked widespread protests,
a construction worker, who at the time was under the influence of drugs,
was arrested in the western state of Jalisco, allegedly for not wearing
a face mask. He died in police custody days later. His body was covered
in bruises and he had a bullet wound in his leg.

In Belize, Indonesia, Mexico Nigeria, Uganda, the Philippines, Tanzania,
and UK, civil society organizations working on issues including LGBTI
rights, drug policy reform, the rights of sex workers and ending
homelessness, have reported that marginalized communities have seen an
increase in surveillance and harassment from law enforcement and have
been disproportionately affected by arrests, fines and detentions during
the pandemic.

In Argentina, a sex worker-led organization reported police violence
against transgender sex workers, including “beatings, searches and
arbitrary detentions” and that sex workers were harassed by police “for quarantine violations when they went to the supermarket or the
neighbourhood pharmacy.”

Stigma and barriers to social protection, health and adequate housing

States’ reliance on punitive Covid-19 measures have also created
additional obstacles to accessing essential services and support,
especially for people experiencing poverty and systemic discrimination. Marginalized groups were often blamed, including by public officials,
for breaching Covid-19 regulations and for spreading the virus. This
has, in turn, fuelled violence against marginalized groups and
discouraged them from seeking medical care because they fear being
arrested, detained or judged.

Although many governments adopted some form of social protection
measures, countries failed to consider the social and economic realities
in which they were implemented, and rarely provided comprehensive
support for the most marginalized communities.

Among those disproportionately impacted were people working in the
informal sector or in insecure employment. In Nepal, many Dalits who
live below the poverty line and rely on daily wages, faced extreme debt
and hunger due to the increased challenges of the pandemic.

Organizations also reported that stigma towards LGBTI people, for
example, resulted in their exclusion from state and municipal food
donations and crisis centres in countries including Indonesia and Zambia.

Rather than relying on punitive measures that places all the
responsibility and blame on individuals who already faced systematic discrimination, governments should have focused on protecting human
rights for all

Rajat Khosla
Covid-19 measures further had a negative impact on the provision of
essential health services. In particular, access to community-run
services and outreach projects aimed at marginalized individuals became severely restricted or completely unavailable as health systems pivoted
their attention to respond to Covid-19. In Canada, medical clinics run
in partnership with health authorities at sex worker outreach projects
were cancelled. Similar concerns were reported regarding widespread
closures of community-run health clinics in East African countries.

In some countries, the Covid-19 pandemic was exploited to further
restrict access to essential health services, such as harm reduction
services and abortion. In India, the organization Hidden Pockets
Collective, which advocates for sexual and reproductive rights, reported
that the government initially failed to recognize abortion as an
essential health service; as a result, service providers told women that abortions were “not essential” and should not happen in a pandemic. The stigma related to abortion also meant women felt unable to tell police
why they were leaving their homes for healthcare during lockdown.

“Rather than relying on punitive measures that places all the
responsibility and blame on individuals who already faced systematic discrimination, governments should have focused on protecting human
rights for all and ensuring that marginalized communities have access to universal healthcare and essential services for their protection,” said
Rajat Khosla.

“This is a crucial lesson that governments must take into account while negotiating a treaty to improve pandemic prevention, preparedness and
response under the auspices of the WHO. Putting human rights at the
heart of government efforts to address public health emergency responses
is not an optional consideration, it is an obligation.”

Background

The report, ‘There is no help for our community: The impact of States’ Covid-19 responses on groups affected by unjust criminalization’ is
available here.

A blog, Using the wrong tool for the job: Four lessons from states’
responses to Covid-19, providing more background behind the research
behind the report, is available here.

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