Laws and policies : Law and policy reform
News and features
Canada: Justice Committee report recommends wide-ranging reforms to HIV criminalisation, including removing HIV non-disclosure from sexual assault law
Yesterday, the House of Commons Standing Committee of Justice and Human Rights released a ground-breaking report “The Criminalization of HIV Non-Disclosure in Canada” recommending that the Government of Canada works with each of the Canadian provinces and territories to end … More
Belarus: Welcoming important developments in the fight against unjust HIV criminalisation
HIV JUSTICE WORLDWIDE along with our partners at The Eurasian Women’s Network on AIDS and Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+) welcome this week’s announcement of an amendment to Article 157 of the Criminal Code of the Republic … More
Malawi: Human Rights Activists celebrate adoption of amended HIV Law that removes rights-infringing provisions (Press Release)
PRESS RELEASE 28 November 2017 HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS CELEBRATE MALAWI’S ADOPTION OF AMENDED HIV LAW THAT REMOVES RIGHTS-INFRINGING PROVISIONS Lilongwe – On Tuesday, 28 November, Malawi Members of Parliament voted to reject coercive and criminalising provisions that threatened human rights … More
Mexico: First Spanish language ‘HIV is Not A Crime’ meeting leads to new Network and impressive early results
In October 2017 the first Spanish-language ‘HIV Is Not A Crime’ meeting took place in Mexico City, supported by the HIV JUSTICE WORLDWIDE coalition. The two-day meeting brought together people living with HIV, activists, lawyers, human rights defenders, and academics … More
US: Florida State Senate Committee Supports Public Health Measure To Modernize HIV Laws (Press Release)
Press release from the Sero Project Tallahassee March 22, 2017 The Florida HIV Justice Coalition today applauded members of the Florida State Senate’s Criminal Justice Committee for voting unanimously yesterday in favor of Senate Bill 628. SB 628 will modernize … More
Russia: Government to examine possibility of removing HIV-specific criminal law and broadening prosecutions to all serious communicable diseases under general ‘bodily harm’ laws
The Russian government is considering removing Article 122 (Infection with Human Immuno-deficiency Virus) from the Criminal Code, according to an article published earlier this month on the RBC website. Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets has instructed a number of ministries … More
US: Second HIV is not a crime training academy creates an important intersectional shift in the US anti-HIV criminalisation movement
The second HIV Is Not a Crime Training Academy, which took place in May at the University of Alabama, Huntsville, brought together more than 300 advocates from 34 US states, as well delegations from Canada and Mexico. Organised jointly by … More
New report shows HIV criminalisation is a growing, global concern but advocates are fighting back
A new report released today shows that HIV criminalisation is a growing, global phenomenon. However, advocates around the world are working hard to ensure that the criminal law’s approach to people living with HIV fits with up-to-date science, as well … More
US: American Psychological Association adopts resolution opposing HIV criminalisation
The American Psychological Association (APA) has adopted an evidence-informed resolution on HIV criminalisation in the United States. It was developed with feedback from the APA Committee on Legal Issues and the HIV Medicine Association – who themselves issued a Policy … More
US: Republican Senator highlights Florida’s “archaic” HIV-specific criminal law, advocates for law reform in 2017
Last Thursday, March 10th Senator Rene Garcia introduced an amendment in the Florida Senate to an amendment of a bill he was co-sponsoring (SB 314) to highlight the damage done to the HIV response by the state’s overly broad HIV … More
