Discrimination Advice and Support

National AIDS Trust provides advice and support to people living with or affected by HIV who have faced discrimination. This service is confidential and free of charge.

Get in touch if you think you have been discriminated against, or if you work in support services for people living with HIV and you know somebody who has been discriminated against.

We can advise you on the situation, advocate on your behalf or support you if you want to make a formal complaint. The information provided through this service is informed by advice from our legal partners at Deighton Pierce Glynn and Leigh Day.

Funded by

Contact our discrimination caseworker

Please email Lindsey Ponsonby, our Discrimination Caseworker, at lindsey.ponsonby@nat.org.uk with a description of the situation which you would like advice or support on.  

If you are contacting us on behalf of someone else, such as a client, please do not include any personal details of the individual without their prior consent. 

You can also call us on 020 7814 6740 or email casework.support@nat.org.uk  

For Individuals

National AIDS Trust provides advice and support to people living with or affected by HIV who have faced discrimination. This service is free of charge.

We can:

  • Talk through a situation which you think may be discrimination
  • Provide you with advice, including legal advice through our partner solicitors specialising in discrimination law and employment law
  • Represent you and advocate on your behalf for example by drafting letters of complaint
  • Support you to use regulatory complaints procedures for private and public bodies
  • Advise on taking legal action*
  • Maintain your anonymity where requested and always uphold confidentiality


*Please note that we cannot guarantee legal representation, nor can we fund legal fees outside of the advice we provide from our solicitors.

The information provided through this service is informed by advice from our legal partners at Deighton Pierce Glynn and Leigh Day.

Examples of types of discrimination we could support you with (this list is not exhaustive, please come to us with any experience of discrimination):

  • From your employer
  • From healthcare professionals, for example your dentist or doctor
  • If you have been refused a service or incurred an extra charge for a service such as tattooing or piercings
  • From police, during legal proceedings or in prison
  • As part of an immigration claim
  • Where reasonable adjustments have not been made for HIV as a disability under the Equality Act 2010

For HIV support staff

We encourage you to put us in touch directly with the person who has experienced discrimination. However, if they want to remain anonymous or only communicate via your organisation, we can provide advice to HIV support services and to others working with people living with HIV.

We can:

  • Talk through a situation which you think may be discrimination
  • Tailor advice on how the law applies to the facts of a specific case, such as:
    • whether or not a particular course of conduct is likely to amount to discrimination
    • what type of discrimination is in play, and the relevant legal principles, exemptions and exceptions
  • Signpost to additional sources of advice and support
  • Support with drafting letters of complaint
  • Advise on taking legal action*


*Please note that we cannot guarantee legal representation for your client nor can we fund legal fees.

The information provided through this service is informed by advice from our legal partners at Deighton Pierce Glynn and Leigh Day.

Events

Webinar: HIV discrimination in private services

Do you work in an HIV support service in England? Come along to our free webinar and learn how to support people living with HIV who are experiencing discrimination in private services

It can be hard to know if a person has experienced discrimination, or how they go about bringing through a discrimination claim. Our webinar, with a legal expert guest speaker, will take you through the process and help you to better understand how to help your service users to deal with discrimination in private services.

Sign up here

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