HIV/AIDS Human Rights Action AL is a human rights organization in South Korea working with and for people living with HIV. We were founded to promote the human rights of people living with HIV and to connect them with one another. We act so that people living with HIV can meet and support each other, and can work, receive medical care and love without discrimination.
At a glance
- Founded: 1 December 2011, as a community of young people (teens and twenties) living with HIV in Korea. Formerly known as Community R.
- Our space: “AL-jip”, opened in April 2024.
- Networks: secretariat of the HIV/AIDS Human Rights Movement Network in Korea; member of Rainbow Action, the Korean Coalition for Anti-Discrimination Legislation and Human Rights Movement Plus.
The problem is stigma, not the virus
What makes life hard for people living with HIV is not the virus itself, but stigma and discrimination in society — and the laws that reinforce them.
- Stigma forces people to hide their HIV status. Because of long-standing prejudice, people can lose their jobs, relationships and safety the moment their status becomes known.
- Discrimination pushes people out of hospitals and workplaces. People are refused treatment and surgery, and face unfair treatment or pressure to quit at work.
- Criminalization: Article 19 of Korea’s AIDS Prevention Act (the so-called “crime of transmission-mediating acts”) criminalizes the sex lives of people living with HIV and labels them as potential offenders. AL calls for its repeal.
What we do
Community
People living with HIV support one another, share their lives and stand by each other. When someone faces injustice, we work it out together. This includes regular member meetings, gatherings for new members, an annual summer human rights camp, a counseling line and accompanying people to hospital.
Human rights advocacy
We speak up for the right to work, the right to health and the right to equality of people living with HIV, and respond directly to human rights violations. This includes responding to refusal of treatment and medical discrimination, responding to labor rights violations, surveying the working conditions of people living with HIV, campaigning to repeal Article 19, running the HIV information site Akahive, and requesting corrections to inaccurate media reports.
Solidarity
We act together with women, people with disabilities, migrants, refugees, young people, LGBTQ+ people and other marginalized groups — including booths at Queer Culture Festivals across Korea and the movement for a comprehensive anti-discrimination law.
Support our work
Our work is sustained by individual supporters. Our activists’ stipends come from our monthly donors, whom we call “Alpacas”. If you are outside Korea, you can support us through GlobalGiving.
Contact
- Email: contact@action-al.org
- Phone: +82-2-6448-1201 (Tuesday–Saturday, 11:00–18:00 KST; closed Sundays, Mondays and public holidays)
- Counseling is available in English as well as Korean, and your privacy is protected. If you would like counseling in English, we recommend that you first contact us by email at contact@action-al.org, so that we can arrange a time that works for you.