News curated from other sources

Canada’s HIV disclosure law ‘unfair,’ say advocates calling for change “To equate not disclosing one’s HIV status with the traditional understanding of aggravated sexual assault, we don’t think is fair,” said an advocate from the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network. The…

Uganda: Activists Go to Court As Call Raises for Equal Rights for People With HIV/Aids By Mercy Nalugo HIV/Aids activists delegations comprising policy makers, medical practitioners, researchers, sex workers and other key stakeholders converged in Durban, South Africa, last month…

HIV PJA and the SERO Project are coming together to present a three-part webinar series continuing conversations from the HIV is Not a Crime Training Academy, which was held in May 2016. With all that was learned and discussed at…

By Karen Ocamb The history books will record that the 2016 presidential race produced the first woman and the first Reality TV star as nominees from the two major political parties. But while the world stares agog at the American…

HIV Modernization Movement-Indiana (HMM) operates under three guiding principles. Many Indiana state laws regarding HIV make it a crime to have the virus—commonly referred to as HIV criminalization—and HIV Modernization Movement-Indiana (HMM), a newly formed coalition, seeks to change that….

Anita Powell, Voice of America, originally published on July 19, 2016 DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA—Ugandan nurse Rosemary Namubiru spent 10 months in jail for accidentally pricking herself with a needle while treating a patient in 2014. For that, she was called…

#BeyondBlame Popular tweets for #BeyondBlame. Sall Tamsir @SallTamsir1 RT @EbaPatrick: HIV criminalization preconference #beyondblame opens @aids2016 with full room #HIVrights @Lzloures @HIVJusticeNet https://t… James Fry @thatfryboy RT @HIVJusticeNet: There is some good news. Some #HIVcriminalisation laws are being opposed and…

Over 200 activists called for an end to HIV criminalisation throughout the world saying it unjustly harms and blames HIV positive people, damages prevention strategies and undermines national and international sexual health programs. Earlier during the week some 200 people living with…

21 JULY 2016 On 19 July, a workshop was hosted at the 21st International AIDS Conference, being held in Durban, South Africa. Entitled “Common at its core: understanding the linkages for challenging the impact of criminal law across population groups,”…

At the 21st International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016) in Durban, researchers and community representatives discussed the impact of discriminatory laws and policies in many parts of the world that hinder access to HIV prevention, treatment, and care for the populations…

HIV criminalisation on the rise, especially in sub-Saharan Africa Lesley Odendal Globally, 72 countries have adopted laws that specifically allow for HIV criminalisation, either because the law is specific to HIV, or because it names HIV as one (or more)…

KAMPALA  – “Whereas the law might have potential to positively contribute to the current HIV/AIDS response efforts in Uganda, there are some contentious clauses that could deter all the benefits realized in the fight against the scourge.” This is what…

On 17 July, some 200 people living with HIV, human rights activists and representatives of key populations gathered for a one-day meeting on challenging HIV criminalization under the title “Beyond blame: challenging HIV criminalization.” The event, a preconference meeting before…

Following Justice Edwin Cameron’s Jonathan Mann Memorial Lecture at AIDS 2016 in Durban, more than 100 activists took to the stage demanding an end to HIV criminalisation. Among us – people with HIV, sex workers, and other criminalised people –…

I owe my life to you, says judge By Edwin Cameron 19 July 2016 “The fact that I am here today at all is a tribute to the activists, researchers, doctors and scientists in the audience,” Judge Edwin Cameron told delegates…

Legal Loophole – Jamaica Has No Law To Charge Persons Who Wilfully Attempt To Spread HIV There are growing calls in local legal circles to implement laws to make it a criminal offence for persons to wilfully and knowingly spread…

English version (Défilez plus bas pour la version française) Filtering for HIV status on Grindr? A proposal that is going down badly. A questionnaire sent by the dating app for gay men to some of its users raises fear of stigmatising HIV-positive men. Being able…

KAMPALA – A network of civil society organisations has dragged the Attorney General to the Constitutional Court, querying the packaging of the HIV and AIDS Prevention and Control Act, 2015. Representatives of the CSOs filed a constitutional petition on Thursday,…

“Thirty-three years ago, a group of activists, tired of how they were being treated, drafted the Denver Principles,” Barb Cardell said to the sleepy but energized audience at an early morning session of the second HIV is Not a Crime…