National AIDS Trust offers confidential, free support for people living with or affected by HIV who have faced discrimination.
If you’ve experienced discrimination – or work in support services and know someone who has – contact us.
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.
Please email Lindsey Ponsonby, our Senior Discrimination Caseworker, 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.
How we can help
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
- 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
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.
We're here to support you
Contact Lindsey, our discrimination case worker, on 020 7814 6740 or email [email protected].
Consent
In some cases, and only with express permission, National AIDS Trust can advocate on your behalf. To do this, we need to be able to talk to others about your personal circumstances and personal information. We need your consent to allow us to do this.
Confidentiality
NAT will collect and securely store relevant information about your case in order to support you. You have a right to see any personal information which is stored about you. Read more about our Confidentiality Policy, and feel free to ask your Discrimination Caseworker if you have any questions.
We won’t share your personal information without your permission unless we’re concerned about the risk to you or others. If this happens, we will notify you immediately.
Cases and trends that emerge from the Discrimination Service inform our policy and campaigns work, but no personal information about cases will be shared without your consent.
Feedback and complaints
We are always keen to receive feedback to improve the Discrimination Service. If you wish to leave feedback, contact your Discrimination Caseworker or NAT at 020 7814 6767.
If you have concerns about the Discrimination Service, you can lodge a complaint through our Discrimination Caseworker, or by contacting NAT at [email protected].
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