PhD Study on the Rights of HIV/AIDS Affected Children

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Children affected by HIV/AIDS in South Africa and Botswana was the subject of a thesis by Postdoctoral Fellow in the College of Law and Management Studies, Dr Rofiah Sarumi.

Sarumi received her PhD for the thesis titled: “The Protection of the Rights of Children affected by HIV/AIDS in South Africa and Botswana: A Critical Analysis of the Legal and Policy Responses”.

Sarumi’s study explored the legal protection of children affected by HIV/AIDS in South Africa and Botswana. She was supervised by Professor Marita Carnelley and Dr Ann Strode of the UKZN School of Law.

Commenting on Sarumi’s work, Strode said: ‘This thesis is significant as it creates and applies an analytical framework assessing the extent to which these countries protect the rights of children affected by HIV/AIDS. It shows the effectiveness of international law norms for guiding national responses within this field.’

Her passion for Human Rights began in 2004 when she pursued studies towards an LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa. Over the past 10 years she has worked with parliamentarians of various SADC countries advocating the protection of the rights of children and women infected with HIV/AIDS to access health care facilities.

‘In the cause of my work, a lot of issues which relate to the protection of the rights of the vulnerable groups came up and I always felt that this is the area where I could make a change and to help the vulnerable groups,’ she said.

She says the support and encouragement from her family is what enables her to meet the demands of her highly demanding and yet fulfilling professional career as a Human Rights Activist.

She quipped: ‘My husband and children are very proud of me. My children who are 10, six and two do not fully understand what a PhD is but I hear them saying “mum has written a very big book called a PhD”.’

Sarumi is currently expanding the scope of her thesis and using the findings of her study to help the voiceless.

- Hazel Langa