BACKGROUND: For individuals with HIV positive status, multiple
barriers exist to accessing and re-entering employment. Studies on
employment for people living with HIV lack a detailed consideration of race
and ethnicity. This is the first article that focuses on barriers to
employment for the HIV positive Latino community in the Canadian context.
OBJECTIVE: To document the barriers that a sample of HIV positive
Latinos and Latinas encounter in finding and maintaining employment in
Toronto.
METHODS: A non-probability sample of immigrant and refugee Latino
men and women living with HIV/AIDS in Toronto participated in in-depth
interviews concerning their experiences in the labor market, emphasizing the
barriers that they have faced in access to employment. Interviews were audio
recorded, transcribed and later analysed with NVivo 9.
RESULTS: Two sets of barriers emerged from the analysis: structural
barriers that immigrants encounter in access to employment, such as language
difficulties, lack of Canadian work experience and anti-immigrant feelings
and barriers to employment for HIV positive individuals, principally HIV
related stigma and health related issues.
CONCLUSIONS: Due to their intersectional identities as
immigrants/refugees and HIV positive individuals, participants face
compounded barriers to employment: Language difficulties, lack of migrant
status and Canadian work experience, anti-immigrant sentiments in the labor
market, ageism, HIV related stigma and side effects of medications among other
barriers related with an HIV positive condition. Such barriers locate participants in a marginalized position in Canadian society.
