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III. Methods

This report is based on a three-week field visit to Jamaica in June 2004, as well as prior and subsequent research.  Two Human Rights Watch staff members conducted detailed interviews with more than seventy-five people living with or at high risk of HIV/AIDS, including sex workers, men who have sex with men (MSM), women who have sex with women, and people who had been incarcerated in police lockups and prison.  These interviews took place in Kingston, St. Ann, St. James, St. Catherine, and St. Andrew, the five parishes hardest hit by HIV/AIDS.²  The identities of most of these persons and certain identifying information have been withheld to protect their privacy and safety.

These persons were identified largely with the assistance of Jamaican nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) providing services to people living with HIV/AIDS, men who have sex with men, women who have sex with women, prisoners, and sex workers.  These interviewees may have had greater access to HIV/AIDS services than those without comparable connections.

Human Rights Watch also interviewed more than fifty representatives of government agencies, United Nations officials, donor governments, and NGOs specializing in HIV/AIDS or human rights; academic institutions; and healthcare workers and hospital administrators.  All documents cited in this report are either publicly available or on file with Human Rights Watch.