UK Parliamentary Reception Marks HIV Is Not A Crime Awareness Day

On Wednesday, 26th February, the HIV Justice Network (HJN) co-hosted a parliamentary reception in the UK Parliament in collaboration with the All-Party Parliamentary Group on HIV, AIDS and Sexual Health (APPGA) and the UK’s National AIDS Trust (NAT). The event, held to mark HIV Is Not A Crime Awareness Day, underscored the urgent need to combat HIV criminalisation in an era of rising global anti-rights movements and shrinking HIV funding.

Baroness Barker, Co-Chair of the APPGA, opened the event, acknowledging the significance of addressing HIV criminalisation within the broader context of human rights and public health.

The Global Scale of HIV Criminalisation

HJN’s Executive Director, Edwin J Bernard, was the first speaker, offering insights into the global state of HIV criminalisation, with a particular focus on Commonwealth countries. He highlighted key issues, including:

  • HIV criminalisation is state-sponsored stigma It punishes people living with HIV for acts that wouldn’t be crimes if they were HIV-negative, perpetuating discrimination and undermining public health efforts.
  • The scale of injustice is vast At least 80 countries have HIV-specific criminal laws, and prosecutions have taken place in at least 90 countries, with Commonwealth nations lagging in law reform.
  • Progress is happening, but remains under threat While 17 countries have reformed their laws, critical funding cuts jeopardise continued advocacy and reform efforts.
  • Sustained investment is essential Law reform takes time, and without long-term, flexible funding, the progress made could be reversed, leaving the most marginalised at risk.
  • The time to act is now Policymakers, funders, and advocates must step up to support efforts to end HIV criminalisation and ensure justice for people living with HIV.

Read the full text of his remarks here: HJN Executive Director’s Speech.

[Show picture list] Photos: Aditi Sharma

Insights from the UK: NAT’s New Report on HIV Criminalisation

Daniel Fluskey, Director of Policy, Research, and Influencing at NAT, presented key findings from NAT’s recently published report, Criminalisation of HIV Transmission: Understanding the Impact (read the report). The report offers several urgent recommendations for reform, including:

  • U=U should be central to legal considerations If an individual has an undetectable viral load, no investigation should take place.
  • Reckless transmission cases can force disclosure Legal proceedings can place individuals in unsafe situations, potentially exposing them to stigma and harm.
  • Police need comprehensive training Investigations must be fair, informed, and necessary to prevent unnecessary criminalisation.
  • Voluntary attendance should replace arrest Arrest should not be the default approach when investigating HIV-related cases.
  • All stakeholders must receive training Including people living with HIV, support staff, and clinicians, to ensure a more informed legal and healthcare environment.

A Personal Story: The Impact of Criminalisation

The event featured a powerful testimony from a man who was unjustly arrested for a crime that never existed—there was no risk, no harm. As a police officer himself, he never imagined he would experience such a humiliating and disproportionate arrest. Multiple officers arrived at his home and charged him with ‘attempted grievous bodily harm’ without explanation or the chance to respond. 

It was only 20 hours into his unlawful detention, during disclosure before his interview, that he was finally told why he had been arrested. At that point, he disclosed his U=U status – evidence that should have prevented his arrest in the first place.

Although he was never formally charged, the case was eventually dismissed as “Entered in Error” after a review of his medical records. Yet, the arrest remains on his record, casting a shadow over his career and deeply impacting his mental health.

“I did nothing wrong,” he concluded, “yet I am still fighting for justice.”

The Forgotten Impact of Past Prosecutions

Sophie Strachan, Director of Sophia Forum, shared her own experience of being diagnosed with HIV while in prison more than two decades ago. She also highlighted the case of the first woman prosecuted in England & Wales for ‘reckless’ HIV transmission. Convicted in 2006 and sentenced to 32 months in prison, she was vilified by the media for a ‘crime’ that would not be prosecuted today under current guidelines.

Nearly 20 years later, this woman remains deeply affected by her conviction. Despite wanting to move forward, her criminal record has made it impossible for her to work or even volunteer. “She is a virtual recluse, terrified that people will still recognise her,” Sophie explained. Her case remains a stark reminder of the lasting impact of unjust prosecutions.

Building Momentum for Change

The reception was attended by members of the UK House of Commons and House of Lords, as well as representatives from UK and international NGOs, philanthropic funders, and advocates working to end HIV criminalisation worldwide.

The discussions reinforced the urgent need for continued advocacy, law reform, and investment to end the unjust criminalisation of people living with HIV. As our Executive Director emphasised: HIV is not a crime. The time to act is now.

HJN’s Executive Director’s remarks at the UK Parliamentary event commemorating HIV is Not a Crime Awareness Day

Today, on HIV Is Not A Crime Awareness Day, we are here to confront a grave injustice: HIV criminalisation. HIV criminalisation is not a public health tool, it is a human rights violation. It is state-sponsored stigma in its most extreme form.

We are here because people living with HIV are being jailed – even when there was no possibility of transmission – for not being able to prove they disclosed their status. We are here because women with HIV are being prosecuted for breastfeeding, simply for wanting to nourish their children. We are here because HIV criminalisation is never just about HIV.

People living with HIV are often targeted not only for their status but because of who they are, who they love, or how they survive—whether they are LGBTQ+, sex workers, migrants, or belong to other marginalised communities. HIV criminalisation is a proxy for deeper discrimination—rooted in racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and xenophobia. The harshest punishments fall on those at the intersection of multiple stigmas. That’s why our fight must be intersectional and collaborative—because justice for people living with HIV is justice for all.

Our Global HIV Criminalisation Database reveals the scale of the problem:

  • 80 countries have HIV-specific criminal laws.
  • 90 countries have unjustly prosecuted people living with HIV, many of them applying general criminal laws.

But there is hope. Seventeen countries have repealed or reformed their HIV laws in the past decade. Change is happening. Yet, our latest analysis – undertaken by our Policy Analyst, Elliot Hatt – shows that the Commonwealth is falling behind global law reform trends. We cannot let this continue.

18 Commonwealth countries have HIV-specific laws, with four country hot-spots – Canada, the UK, India, and Singapore – accounting for nearly 80% of prosecutions across the Commonwealth.

At the HIV Justice Network, we don’t just highlight the problems – we drive solutions. We connect and support activists. We equip communities with tools, available for free in multiple languages through the HIV Justice Academy.

And we share success stories—like Zimbabwe, where we fought to repeal HIV criminalisation in 2022 and prevented its return in 2024.  We will be launching our documentary and toolkit analysing how this was possible in a webinar co-hosted with the International AIDS Society next Wednesday, March 5th.  (Register here)

So you see, HIV decriminalisation is possible, even in challenging political environments.

But it takes:

  • Community leadership—because change starts and ends with those most affected.
  • Parliamentary action—because laws don’t change without political will.
  • Global coordination—because no-one can fight this battle alone.
  • Sustained funding—because without resources, progress stalls.

We are deeply grateful to the Robert Carr Fund for supporting us over the past nine years, ensuring that the fight for HIV justice has borne fruit. But let me be clear—this fight is far from over.

With the United States and the Netherlands withdrawing their support, we are especially grateful to the UK government for its unwavering support of the Fund. But we are at a crossroads. The survival of the Fund, and the HIV Justice movement – of the organisations, networks, and communities working tirelessly to end HIV criminalisation – is now at risk.

This is not just a funding gap. This is a threat to progress.

Law reform does not happen overnight. It requires sustained, long-term, and flexible funding to build the momentum needed to dismantle unjust laws and systems that have oppressed people living with HIV for decades.

Without continued investment, we risk losing the gains we’ve fought so hard for. We risk silencing the voices of those on the frontlines. We risk leaving the most vulnerable people behind, afraid to access HIV services and to live fulfilling lives in dignity.

So, thank you for your support. And thank you to those funders in the room who understand that HIV is not a crime, and that real, lasting change takes time.

Advocacy, movement-building, and legal reform are not quick wins—but they are essential. If we want to achieve HIV justice worldwide then we must ensure that this work continues. The future of the HIV response – and the lives of 40 million people – depends on it.

Australia: Migration policies for People with HIV perpetuate criminalisation and expose them to harm

David Carter Delivers Keynote at the Australasian HIV&AIDS Conference

Health+Law’s research lead David Carter, delivered a keynote address at the recent ASHM HIV Conference in Sydney, exploring the controversial past and present of HIV criminalisation in Australia. His urgent, provocative address challenged us to consider how current legal and policy processes in migration law recreate conditions of criminalisation, producing serious health and other harms for people living with HIV. 

Talking to Health+Law researchers in an interview about legal issues, Sergio*, a man in his thirties originally from South America and living with HIV, described the experience of migration to Australia:

I didn’t have to face any court, but I [did] have to prove that I wasn’t a bad person just because I have HIV […] I [had] to prove myself to someone else, who probably is not living with HIV, that I was not a bad person, and I was a good citizen and I deserve to be here.

The migration process is a complex one – and this complexity is amplified for people living with HIV.  Sergio’s reflections express a particularly grim aspect of this process for migrants, especially those living with HIV.

Indeed, as Scientia Associate Professor David Carter, Health+Law’s research lead, argued in an invited keynote at the 2024 Australasian HIV&AIDS Conference hosted by ASHM Health in September this year, the experience of people living with HIV seeking to migrate to Australia is part of Australia’s long history of the criminalisation of HIV.  Speaking to delegates from Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the Pacific at Sydney’s International Convention Centre on Gadigal Country, David reminded the audience that criminalisation is a policy approach, that doesn’t just use the criminal law. To show this he set out five stages of criminalisation that are also evident in the migration process for those living with HIV.

First, as he explained, criminalisation characterises specific behaviour as harmful or carrying a risk of harm to the community. In this case the harm presented is, to quote Australian migration law, that a person’s HIV care represents a ‘significant cost to the Australian community or prejudice [to] the access of Australian citizens or permanent residents to health care or community services’.

Second, criminalisation creates a suspect population, made up of people thought to warrant suspicion because they come to be associated with the potential harm.

Third and fourth, this suspect population attracts surveillance from the state, with a hierarchy created within the suspect population whereby some members are subject to further and intensified surveillance.

Fifth, and finally, some members of this suspect population are subjected ‘to the most severe forms of the state’s coercive and punitive authority’, including investigation, more intensive supervision, detention or arrest, and in some cases, criminal or civil proceedings.

The criminalisation of HIV has a long and storied history, going back to the very early days of the AIDS crisis. Vocal members of HIV-affected communities, legal and human rights advocates and many others have argued strongly against criminalisation, viewing it as draconian and as an approach to public (health) policy with very negative consequences for HIV epidemics.

In Australia, arguments against HIV-specific criminal offences have been broadly successful, and yet the ‘temptation’ to criminalise – as the very first Australian National HIV Strategy described it – continues to emerge in some policy responses to HIV and other communicable diseases.

In 1987, when the authors of the first national HIV strategy were writing, they were warning against measures including compulsory universal HIV testing, the closure of gay venues, criminal penalties for HIV transmission, and limitations on the movement of HIV positive people, including forced quarantine. Today, HIV criminalisation is operating in Australian migration policy and law.

‘This contemporary criminalisation of HIV begins’, David argued, ‘like all criminalisation, with the characterisation of behaviour in terms of harm and risk of harm’. He continued, arguing that:

This characterisation of migrating while HIV positive as harmful establishes, and in-turn enlivens, the suspect population management and criminalising processes of our medical border […] This criminalising logic establishes an adversarial relationship between the person living with HIV and the state, and between them and members of the Australian community, whose access to health care it is alleged may be prejudiced by providing care for a person living with HIV who wishes to migrate.

Among the many negative effects of this process is that it can discourage migrants living with HIV from engaging in testing, treatment and HIV care. Interviews conducted by Health+Law as part of our national legal needs (LeNS) study confirm that this is happening. They show that many migrants living with HIV in jurisdictions across Australia experienced an alienating and hostile environment: a ‘threat environment so elevated’, as David described it in his keynote, that they frequently described withdrawing from HIV care and community life as a coping mechanism.

Unfolding the history of ‘unjust and unhelpful’ HIV criminalisation in Australia, David outlined how the current legal and policy conditions that prospective migrants living with HIV face in Australia today work to recreate conditions of criminalisation and expose both individuals and the community to multiple health harms.

You can read more about David’s keynote in The Medical Republic’s coverage of the conference.

US: Advocating for HIV decriminalisation and health equity at Indiana’s first HIV advocacy summit

HIV advocates, organizations talk legislative solutions at first advocacy summit

By Abigail Ruhman

Community health centers and Ryan White HIV AIDS Program centers play an important role in expanding services and care for vulnerable populations, including HIV prevention and wellness. The Damien Center – Indiana’s oldest and largest HIV service organization – hosted its first HIV advocacy summit Wednesday to develop strategies for the upcoming legislative session.

Carrie Foote, a professor of sociology at Indiana University-Indianapolis, has been living with HIV since 1988 and leads HIV Modernization Movement-Indiana. She said Indiana has several laws that lead to the inappropriate arrest or prosecution of people living with HIV — which wastes state resources and has no public health benefit.

“We can end the epidemic,” Foote said. “We can end it, so anything that’s a barrier to doing that — and these laws are — we want to get rid of and improve.”

Foote said these laws lead to stigma around HIV that act as a barrier to testing and care — which gets in the way of preventing new transmissions and optimizing wellness for people living with HIV.

There are six laws that criminalize HIV in Indiana — which include both public health and criminal codes.

Two relate to the donation, sale or transfer of semen for artificial insemination, blood or plasma when someone “knowingly” has HIV. Another two focus on alleged non-disclosure of someone’s HIV status. When the laws were originally written, they said people living with HIV have a “duty to inform” sexual and needle sharing partners of their states prior to “high-risk activity.”

“The disclosure law used to be called ‘Duty to Warn,’” Foote said. “We came with a warning label before we had sex. So first, I need to warn you that I have HIV. That’s the language. How stigmatizing is that?”

Advocates were able to work with lawmakers to revise the language to be less stigmatizing, but the disclosure law still exists in Indiana code.

The last two enhance punishments for battery or malicious mischief by bodily fluid or waste for people living with HIV. For example, Foote said for someone who doesn’t live with HIV, spitting on someone is considered a misdemeanor.

“For anybody living with viral hepatitis or HIV, it gets enhanced to a felony crime solely because of their HIV status, even though those diseases are not transmitted that way,” Foote said.

Foote said legislative reform around the issue focuses on efforts to repeal HIV specific criminal laws and remove enhanced penalties based solely on a person’s HIV status. Advocates also want to modernize or reform laws to reflect the current science of HIV transmission and HIV as a chronic manageable condition, as well as narrow the law to situations that involve the “intent to transmit” or a “substantial risk of transmission.”

Foote is collaborating with the University of California-Los Angeles School of Law’s Williams Institute to analyze the enforcement of HIV criminalization in Indiana. She said not all of the HIV criminalization laws have been used, but many have led to arrests.

“People also are being convicted under these laws, so that right there tells you that change needs to occur because we have these people being prosecuted in ways that are unfair and don’t reflect advances in modern science,” Foote said.

Foote said in addition to creating harmful stigma, HIV criminalization disproportionately affects Black people, sexual minorities and people who inject drugs, which makes health inequities worse.

The Damien Center event also focused on different challenges these community centers face when trying to provide services and how threats to a federal program can make care more complicated.

The 340B drug pricing program was created in partnership with pharmaceutical companies — which agreed to provide “significant” discounts to eligible health care providers in order to participate in the Medicaid program.

Community health centers, also known as federally qualified health centers, are designed to increase access to primary care by reducing barriers such as cost, lack of insurance and distance. Ryan White centers are a part of the federal program designed to increase access to care for HIV.

Colleen Meiman, the national policy advisor for state and regional associations of Community Health Centers, said the program allows these centers to stretch federal resources to reach more patients and provide comprehensive services to vulnerable populations.

“340B is about so much more than pharmaceuticals,” Meiman said. “340B is essential to the financial sustainability of many, many, probably the majority of health centers.”

She also said the 340B program is facing several threats at the federal level, but some states have been able to pass legislation to protect the program.

Damien Center President and CEO Alan Witchery said the event was meant to identify issues that advocates and organizations want to address moving forward.

“There really isn’t an opportunity for nonprofits to come together and think about just doing this kind of advocacy,” Witchery said.

Witchery said he wants there to be a continued conversation around lobbying, advocacy and education efforts for these organizations to promote their causes together as a group around the state.

Global experts converge in Munich to share strategies on HIV criminalisation at AIDS 2024 pre-conference

AIDS 2024: Activists and experts debate tactics to combat HIV criminalisation

Translated with DEEPL. For article in Portuguese, please scroll down. 

On Sunday (21), during the AIDS 2024 Pre-Conference in Munich, Germany, a group of experts from the United Kingdom, Mexico and the United States met for a crucial dialogue on the criminalisation of HIV. The panel, entitled “Everything you ever wanted to know about challenging the criminalisation of HIV: HIV Justice Network”, was moderated by Julian Hows, from the HIV Justice Network, an organisation that works to build a coordinated global response against punitive laws and policies that affect people living with HIV.

HIV criminalisation refers to the inappropriate use of criminal law to punish individuals on the basis of their HIV-positive status. This includes a range of acts, such as not disclosing one’s HIV status, potential exposure to the virus, soliciting sex while HIV positive, as well as practices such as spitting, biting, donating blood or breastfeeding.

This criminalisation not only intensifies the stigma associated with the virus, but can also limit people’s access to health services, damaging the relationship between them and the health professionals who treat them. It also creates a false sense of security, leading many to believe that laws offer protection, which is not actually the case.

The global movement to combat this criminalisation, led by HIV Justice Worldwide, aims to transform the discourse on HIV, share information and resources, and strengthen advocacy. The fight is fundamental to guaranteeing justice and human rights for everyone living with the virus.

Edwin Bernard, executive director of HIV Justice Network, highlighted a serious concern: “The US repealed its HIV-specific law at the end of the 20th century, but is now using a number of problematic laws”. He mentioned a shocking case of a homeless man with HIV sentenced to 35 years in prison for spitting at a police officer, a situation in which his saliva was considered a deadly weapon. Bernard stressed the need to understand the applicable laws for an effective defence.

Robert Suttle, from The Elizabeth Taylor AidsFoundation, shared his personal experience of criminalisation. “As a black, gay man living with HIV, I was registered as a sex offender for 15 years in Louisiana,” said Suttle. He pointed out that many newly diagnosed people are unaware of the risk of criminalisation because the focus of advocacy is mainly on prevention and biomedical treatment.

Sofía Varguez, from the HIV Justice Network in Mexico, gave an overview of the situation in Latin America and the Caribbean. “In our region, 26 countries have laws that criminalise HIV. We have registered 157 cases of criminalisation in 23 of the 32 countries in the region, including Brazil,” said Varguez. She also mentioned successes in repealing these laws, such as in Colombia, where a law student succeeded in having the law ruled unconstitutional.

Ricardo Hung, director of Alianza Lambda de Venezuela, brought a worrying perspective from his country with the rise of neo-Pentecostalism in public organisations. “In Venezuela, the government is trying to informally change the law to criminalise people with HIV, with the support of the Ministry of Health,” Hung revealed. He asked for materials to help educate and raise awareness about the criminalisation of HIV in his nation.

The event also covered tools and strategies developed by the HIV Justice Network and partners in the HIV Justice Worldwide coalition, offering valuable resources for initiating and sustaining HIV decriminalisation campaigns. The hope is that participants will feel motivated to use and share these tools and engage in the quest for justice for all people living with the virus.

To close, Julian Hows invited everyone to explore the HIV Justice Academy portal, a free global hub of learning and resources, available to beginners and experts alike. The portal, accessible in English, Spanish, Russian and French, is designed to help everyone join the movement to end the criminalisation of HIV. To access it, click here.

Aids 2024: Ativistas e especialistas debatem leis discriminatórias e táticas para combater a criminalização do HIV

Nesse domingo (21), durante a pré-Conferência da Aids 2024 em Munique, Alemanha, um grupo de especialistas do Reino Unido, México e Estados Unidos se encontrou para um diálogo crucial sobre a criminalização do HIV. O painel, intitulado “Tudo o que você sempre quis saber sobre desafiar a criminalização do HIV: HIV Justice Network”, foi moderado por Julian Hows, diretor da HIV Justice Network, uma organização que trabalha para construir uma resposta global coordenada contra leis e políticas punitivas que afetam pessoas vivendo com HIV.

A criminalização do HIV refere-se ao uso inadequado da lei penal para punir indivíduos com base no seu status HIV positivo. Isso inclui uma série de atos, como não revelar o status sorológico, potencial exposição ao vírus, solicitar sexo sendo positivo para HIV, além de práticas como cuspir, morder, doar sangue ou amamentar.

Essa criminalização não só intensifica o estigma associado ao vírus, mas também pode limitar o acesso das pessoas a serviços de saúde, prejudicando a relação entre elas e os profissionais de saúde que as atendem. Além disso, gera uma falsa sensação de segurança, fazendo com que muitos acreditem que as leis oferecem proteção, o que na verdade não é o caso.

O movimento global para combater essa criminalização, liderado pela HIV Justice Worldwide, visa transformar o discurso sobre o HIV, compartilhar informações e recursos, e fortalecer a advocacy. A luta é fundamental para garantir justiça e direitos humanos para todos que vivem com o vírus.

Edwin Bernard, diretor executivo da HIV Justice Network, destacou uma preocupação grave: “Os EUA revogaram sua lei específica para o HIV no final do século XX, mas agora estão usando diversas leis problemáticas”. Ele mencionou um caso chocante de um homem sem-teto com HIV condenado a 35 anos de prisão por cuspir em um policial, uma situação em que sua saliva foi considerada uma arma mortal. Bernard ressaltou a necessidade de compreender as leis aplicáveis para uma defesa eficaz.

Robert Suttle, da The Elizabeth Taylor AidsFoundation, compartilhou sua experiência pessoal com a criminalização. “Como homem negro, gay e vivendo com HIV, fui registrado como agressor sexual por 15 anos na Louisiana”, contou Suttle. Ele destacou que muitas pessoas recém-diagnosticadas desconhecem o risco de criminalização, pois o foco da advocacia está principalmente na prevenção e no tratamento biomédico.

Sofía Varguez, da HIV Justice Network no México, apresentou um panorama da situação na América Latina e no Caribe. “Na nossa região, 26 países têm leis que criminalizam o HIV. Registramos 157 casos de criminalização em 23 dos 32 países da região, entre eles o Brasil”, disse Varguez. Ela também mencionou sucessos na revogação dessas leis, como na Colômbia, onde um estudante de direito conseguiu que a lei fosse considerada inconstitucional.

Ricardo Hung, diretor da Alianza Lambda de Venezuela, trouxe uma perspectiva preocupante de seu país com a ascensão do neopentecostalismo nos órgãos públicos. “Na Venezuela, o governo está tentando mudar informalmente a lei para criminalizar as pessoas com HIV, com o apoio do Ministério da Saúde”, revelou Hung. Ele pediu materiais para ajudar na educação e na sensibilização sobre a criminalização do HIV em sua nação.

O evento também abordou ferramentas e estratégias desenvolvidas pela HIV Justice Network e parceiros da coalizão HIV Justice Worldwide, oferecendo recursos valiosos para iniciar e sustentar campanhas de descriminalização do HIV. A esperança é que os participantes se sintam motivados a utilizar e compartilhar essas ferramentas e se engajar na busca por justiça para todas as pessoas que vivem com o vírus.

Para encerrar, Julian Hows convidou todos a explorar o portal HIV Justice Academy, um hub global gratuito de aprendizado e recursos, disponível para iniciantes e especialistas. O portal, acessível em inglês, espanhol, russo e francês, foi desenvolvido para ajudar a todos a se unirem ao movimento para acabar com a criminalização do HIV. Para acessar, clique aqui.

Marina Vergueiro (marina@agenciaaids.com.br)

Meet HJN at AIDS 2024

Starting this coming weekend, and continuing until Friday 26th, seven HJN team members will join an estimated 15,000 participants at the 25th International AIDS Conference in Munich to advocate for the rights and health equity of people living with HIV globally.

We are grateful to our scholarship providers and funders for making it possible for so many of us to attend AIDS 2024. We are mindful of the many individuals who have been unjustly denied visas to enter Germany and know we are privileged to be able to attend in person.

We’ll do our very best to make sure that everyone’s voices are heard, both at our sessions and at others’.

If you are also fortunate enough to be in Munich, please come and say hello, and tell us about your work and how we might support each other in the global struggle for HIV justice.

Sunday 21st July

11:30am-12:30pm. LIVING Pre-Conference Workshop: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Challenging HIV Criminalisation: The HIV Justice Academy. Room 13b/Channel 7.  This interactive session, featuring most of the HJN team, HJN’s Global Advisory Panel (GAP) member, Robert Suttle, and Sero’s Andy Tapia, covers the realities of HIV criminalisation and strategies to challenge unjust laws.

Monday 22nd July

1:00pm-2:30pm. Global Village Workshop: Denied, Discriminated Against, and Deported: The Global Realities of Migration, Mobility, and Health Equity for People Living with HIV. Global Village Session Room 2. This workshop, co-hosted by HJN, Queensland Positive People, NAPWHA and hivtravel.org addresses HIV-related travel restrictions and advocates for global change, featuring the latest status on HIV migration worldwide from HJN GAP member, David Haerry.

Tuesday 23rd July

12:00pm-1:00pm. Poster Presentation, Prepared for Action: Lessons Learned from the First Year of the HIV Justice Academy presented by HJN’s Sofia Varguez.

3:00pm-4:00pm. Symposium: Equity in Focus: Tackling Inequalities, Room 13a/Channel 6. This session highlights the role of community-led organisations in challenging criminalisation, discrimination and inequalities. HJN’s Edwin Bernard will speak on “Legal Landscapes: The Influence of Legislation on the Lives and Rights of the HIV Community”.

Wednesday 24th July

8:30am-10:00am. Plenary session: Addressing structural barriers: How can we do better? Hall C1/Channel 1. This morning plenary session includes HJN GAP member, Michaela Clayton, presenting “Breaking Barriers: Challenging HIV Criminalization to Counter Inequalities”.

[Rescheduled from Tuesday] 12:00pm-12:30pm. Discussion: U=U in HIV Decriminalisation Advocacy, U=University Networking Zone, Global Village, Featuring a conversation between HJN’s Edwin Bernard, and Kamaria Laffrey and Andy Tapia of the Sero Project.

2:30pm-4:30pm. Workshop: Getting Decriminalisation Right: What do good laws look like? Room 14a/Channel 9. This workshop from UNAIDS, UNDP and GNP+ will facilitate knowledge exchange on good practices in decriminalisation in relation to HIV outcomes and includes HJN’s Edwin Bernard and HJN GAP member, Alexander McClelland.

Thursday 25th July

12.00pm-1.00pm. Poster presentations. HJN team members Sylvie Beaumont, Elliot Hatt and Sofia Varguez will present four posters: Global Trends in HIV Criminalisation; The Relevance of Gender to Potential or Perceived HIV ‘Exposure’ Charges in HIV Criminalisation Cases; The ABCs of HIV Law Reform in Latin America and the Caribbean: Case Studies on HIV (De)criminalisation in Argentina, Belize, and Colombia; and Challenging Coercion and Misplaced Punishment: HIV and Infant Feeding Choices.

3:00pm-4:00pm: Workshop: Doing HIV Justice in Europe. Global Village 555 Zone. This workshop, led by HJN’s Julian Hows and featuring most of the HJN team, will focus on HIV decriminalisation advocacy across the WHO Europe region.

All Week (Sunday-Thursday)

Global HIV Migration, Global Village Exhibition Booth ADO4

This booth has been designed to capture a short video in a safe and secure space for anyone to tell us their story about travelling or relocating with HIV with a highly experienced film maker, HJN’s video and visuals consultant, Nicholas Feustel. Co-hosted by HJN, Queensland Positive People, NAPWHA and hivtravel.org.

UK Parliament Commemorates HIV Is Not A Crime Day

On Tuesday 5th March the HIV Justice Network hosted a reception with the All Party Parliamentary Group for HIV, AIDS and Sexual Health (APPGA) to mark the first global HIV Is Not A Crime Awareness Day.

Baroness Barker, co-chair of the APPGA, Lisa Power former Policy Director at the Terrence Higgins Trust and the first chair of the HIV Justice Network’s Supervisory Board, spoke alongside our Executive Director, Edwin J Bernard. The SERO Project’s, Kerry Thomas, an HIV criminalisation survivor and activist, appeared via video.

The event was attended by MPs and members of the House of Lords, as well as representatives of the UK and US governments, the Global Fund, UNAIDS, HIV philanthropic funders, and UK and international HIV policy organisations.

Edwin presented global and Commonwealth data, based on a briefing paper especially undertaken for the event by our policy analyst, Elliot Hatt, which demonstrated that the Commonwealth is far behind global HIV criminalisation law reform trends.

In the past five years, there were more adoptions of HIV criminalisation laws than there were repeals or reforms in the Commonwealth, whilst globally this was reversed.  Notably, the United States – formerly a world leader and exporter of HIV criminalisation – was now a world leader in ending it.

“It’s time for the UK to do the same, domestically, and throughout the Commonwealth,” he said.

[Show picture list]
UPDATE 22nd March: The Parliamentary event and our Commonwealth analysis led to questions being asked in Parliament by APPGA co-chair, Florence Eshalomi MP. 

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office:

What steps he is taking to help encourage the repeal of HIV specific laws in the 20 jurisdictions in the Commonwealth that still have them.

Whether his Department is providing support to (a) the HIV Justice Network and (b) other organisations working to repeal HIV-specific laws globally.

 

These questions were answered by Andrew Mitchell MP Minister of State for Development and Africa with the same answer for both questions:

Addressing stigma, discrimination and criminalisation is critical to ensuring equality of access to HIV prevention, testing and treatment services and to achieving progress in the global HIV response.

The UK is a champion of human rights around the world and we are committed to the principle of non-discrimination on any grounds, including on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The UK’s network of over 280 Diplomatic Missions monitor human rights in host countries.

At the UN High Level Meeting on HIV in June 2021, the UK worked hard to secure the highest level of commitment from our global partners and garner support for the ambitious, rights-based Global AIDS Strategy 2021-2026, so the world has the best chance of meeting the 2030 goal to end AIDS. We also endorse the Global Fund’s 2023-2028 Strategy, with a focus on addressing inequities and structural drivers of HIV infection and AIDS-related deaths including barriers to services due to stigma, discrimination and criminalisation.

Our funding to the Robert Carr Fund and to UNAIDS helps to support legal and policy reform to combat stigma, discrimination and criminalisation, and to improve access to HIV services for those most at risk, as well as supporting civil society and grassroots organisations to challenge harmful policies and attitudes that exclude minorities and put them at greater risk of HIV infection and increase access to services for these groups.

 

We are grateful to the UK’s leadership, and its support of the Robert Carr Fund – which funds much of our work, and that of the HIV JUSTICE WORLDWIDE coalition – which is currently seeking replenishment for the next funding round, 2025-7, and we hope that the UK will be the first to commit to supporting the Fund once again.

HIV Is Not A Crime Awareness Day goes global!

Next Wednesday 28th February is HIV Is Not A Crime Awareness Day.

For the first time, HIV Is Not A Crime Awareness Day – which began two years ago in the United States – has gone global! This year’s theme is: “You care about ending HIV criminalisation – you just don’t know it yet!”

That’s why we’ll be producing a very special episode of our webshow, HIV Justice Live! on this important new date for global HIV decriminalisation activism, where I’ll be joined on my ‘virtual sofa’ by an inspiring group of community-based expert activists – Florence Riako Anam (GNP+); HIV and human rights consultant, Michaela Clayton; Mikhail Golichenko (HIV Legal Network); and Andy Tapia and Kerry Thomas (SERO Project) – to explain why HIV criminalisation impacts us all, and what you can do about it.

We’ll be streaming live to YouTube and Facebook, so you’ll be able to interact with us during our Q&A session. By March 1st, Zero Discrimination Day, the show will also be available on our YouTube channel where it will be subtitled in English, allowing for automatic translation into any language.

HIV Is Not A Crime Awareness Day was the brainchild of our long-time HIV JUSTICE WORLDWIDE partner, the SERO Project’s co-Executive Director, Kamaria Laffrey. HIV Is Not A Crime Awareness Day was launched two years ago in collaboration with the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, community activists and public policy organisations across the United States and grown in size and prominence ever since.

HIV Is Not A Crime Awareness Day takes place on 28th February for several reasons. It’s a date that bridges two major US awareness months – Black History Month in February and Women’s History Month in March. And it’s also a symbolic nod to the legacy of the late Hollywood icon and early AIDS activist, Elizabeth Taylor, who was born on 27th February.

HIV Is Not A Crime Awareness Day is an opportunity to amplify the voices of those who have been criminalised based on their HIV status; to remind people of the negative impacts of HIV criminalisation on health and rights; to celebrate the work of many individuals who are part of the growing global movement to end HIV criminalisation; and to recognise that there’s still much to do to achieve HIV JUSTICE WORLDWIDE.

You can find out what other events are taking place on and around HIV Is Not A Crime Awareness Day by visiting a dedicated Facebook page or by following the hashtag #HINACDay.

Announcing Living 2024:
The People Living with HIV Pre-conference at AIDS2024!

As we commemorate World AIDS Day, a coalition that so far includes: the Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+), the International Community of Women Living with HIV (ICW), the Global Network of Young People Living with HIV (Y+ Global), the HIV Justice Network (HJN), AIDS Action Europe (AAE), and the European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG) are delighted to announce our plans to host the People Living with HIV Pre-conference at AIDS2024.

Living 2024 is planned for 20th and 21st July 2024 ahead of the AIDS2024 conference in Munich. 
 
Looking back to 1983, when the very first gathering of people living with HIV developed the Denver Principles, setting the path to the greater involvement, engagement and leadership of people living with HIV in the AIDS response, we are committed to sustain that legacy and make Living 2024 a platform for people living with HIV and our close allies and partners to connect, and strengthen global solidarity for community leadership in the AIDS response. 
 
Living 2024 will be organised under the theme, ‘‘Communities leading: advancing health, dignity, equity”.
 
This is the first time since 2016 that the global community of people living with HIV in all our diversities will meet in person to reflect on the multiple socio-political challenges faced by people living with HIV that continue to limit the civic space needed for our advocacy, as well as the inequalities that fuel stigma, discrimination and criminalisation.

We plan to build power together and identify opportunities to strengthen access to affordable and optimised treatment and diagnostics including for addressing the unique challenges of ageing with HIV.

Living 2024, is also an opportunity for people living with HIV and affected communities to come together to reflect, re-imagine and define the future of the HIV movement, as well as  our place within the broader global health and development platforms in shaping the HIV sustainability plans beyond 2030. 
 
The organisers of Living 2024 call on countries and decision-makers to refocus, recommit, and ensure that communities lead. AIDS isn’t over, our lives and dignity are still under threat, and stigma, discrimination and criminalisation still prevent us from fully benefiting from the remarkable progress of HIV science. 
 
As we prepare for this crucial convening, we invite other networks, communities, partners, and potential funders to join us in making this event successful and historic. In the coming weeks, we will share more details. For any inquiries please reach out to us on email: living2024@gnpplus.net

Download this press release as a pdf

EECA Judges’ Forum on HIV, Human Rights and the Law meet to discuss challenges presented by punitive laws

Judges from Eastern Europe and Central Asia gather in Moldova to discuss the region’s pressing issues around health, HIV, human rights and the law

The Eastern European and Central Asian Judges’ Forum on HIV, Human Rights and the Law – an independent body of judges from the region yearly convened by UNDP – starts their two-day meeting on 27 November 2023 in Chișinău, Moldova, to discuss challenges that punitive laws present to the full realization of the rights of people living with and affected by HIV.

The Forum, started in Moldova five years ago, returns this year to address challenges that remain in the region, as well as to highlight the progress made by countries like Moldova in addressing them.

“The Ministry of Justice is taking all measures to bring criminal policy in line with European standards, ensuring human rights is a priority. To this end, sanctions have been adjusted in criminal law with the aim of humanizing and clearly distinguishing cases of drug use from drug dealing. In addition, it is proposed to diversify the penalties in order to promote alternatives to imprisonment. Improving the human rights protection system remains a priority for the Ministry of Justice, and each of us understands that we must apply a proactive policy in the area of combating drug use, enhancing the role of the judiciary in ensuring the rights of this category of people are reconceptualized,” noted Veronica Mihailov-Moraru, Minister of Justice of the Republic of Moldova.

“At the core of our discussions during the Forum are real people – individuals whose lives and rights depend on the decisions made within the walls of courtrooms. It is our responsibility to protect these rights, to champion the cause of justice, and to ensure that no one is left behind in our fight against HIV,” said Andrea Cuzyova, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative to the Republic of Moldova.

The Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) region is among three in the world where HIV infections and deaths are still on the rise. Fifteen countries in the region still criminalize HIV transmission, and many others, in law or practice, restrict access to life-saving services for key populations. People who use drugs are still the most impacted by HIV in the region; rigid drug policies often drive people away from vital health services. This exacerbates the HIV epidemic and facilitates high incarceration rates, contributing to a burgeoning tuberculosis epidemic and other health and social challenges for individuals upon release.

Prior to the war in Ukraine, labor migration has been a significant driver of HIV and TB epidemics in the EECA region, and currently internally displaced persons and migrants have limited access to vital health services, including HIV and tuberculosis, and legal support. HIV decriminalization and pro-active drug policy reforms are long overdue in the region.

“We now have evidence that countries with more enabling societal and legal environments where punitive policies are replaced with those that put people and health at the center and protect rights to non-discrimination are associated with bigger declines in HIV incidence,” said Vera Ilyenkova, Adviser, Key populations & Communities engagement in UNAIDS Regional Support Team for Eastern Europe and Central Asia. UNAIDS report this year focused on the opportunities that countries can take for legal reform and innovation to stem HIV epidemics.

“A large number of incarcerated people across the Eastern European and Central Asian region are serving prison terms for drug related offenses, in many cases simple possession with no harm to others. It is time to reflect on whether this is an effective measure, whether it is the right public investment, whether it is justified and proportionate. I invite all participants to the Judges forum to consider that the answer to these questions is NO and that drug policies in the region should undergo significant reforms” said Prof. Michel Kazatchkine, Special Advisor to the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe (WHO/Europe)

The role of judges in addressing health and other social issues is critical. The justice system can either impede or facilitate social and public health efforts to provide equitable health care, thus ultimately contributing to the achievement of universal health coverage. In addition, an independent, impartial, accountable and professional judicial system, as well as the protection of fundamental rights, is increasingly a topic of discussion in the region, where some countries are candidates for EU accession.

“Our region is presented with many challenges and as judges we are also impacted. The choice is ours – not to pay attention to the issues or to ask hard questions and to apply the law with the view of protections of human rights, so that no one is left behind,” said Sharof Alanazarzoda, Judge of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Tajikistan and member of the Forum Steering Committee.

The two-day forum includes judges from Ukraine, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Moldova; high-level officials from Moldova, Eastern and Central European and Central Asian Commission on Drug Policy; development partners and civil society leadership from the region and from Moldova. Topics addressed will include HIV decriminalization, EU integration, drug policy reform, migration and fostering collaboration between civil society, UN, and the judiciary in achieving high-level targets on HIV elimination.