The third and final webinar in the First Responder series focuses on working with the media. Hosted by Kamaria Laffrey (Sero) and featuring presentations from Carrie Foote (HIV Modernization Movement, Indiana) and Olivia G Ford (former PWN-USA Comms Dirctor).
UK: Avon and Somerset police statement over risk of HIV from spitting allegedly based on National Police guidelines
Police say false HIV claims over spitting were taken from national guidelines
Avon and Somerset Police still have not retracted their statement despite pressure from campaigners
The police force for Bristol and the surrounding areas say false claims made about the transfer of HIV were taken from national guidelines.
Avon and Somerset Police announced last year it would be introducing the use of spit guards in 2018 to remove the risk of officers catching diseases like the human immunodeficiency virus or hepatitis.
However, campaign groups were quick to point out HIV cannot be passed on through saliva and accused the force of “praying on people’s prejudices.”
The force did apologise for “any offence caused” to people living with HIV or Hepatitis B or C but still has not retracted the statements despite calls from campaigners to do so.
In January 24, a Freedom of Information request revealed no Avon and Somerset Police officers had caught an infection disease after being spat at since 2012/13.
When asked by the Bristol Post if the force would retract the statements about HIV, a spokesman said on January 25: “The information we used previously in the roll-out of spit guards was based on National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) guidance.
“Following feedback from the public and consultation with local charities, Assistant Chief Constable Stephen Cullen asked the NPCC to seek medical opinion. As a result of ACC Cullen’s representations the NPCC has altered its guidance to forces.”
The Bristol wing of the HIV advocacy group ACTup! Launched a petition calling for the force to retract the statement.
A spokesperson for the group said officers deserve not to be spat at while working and the group is not calling for the recall of spit hoods but raised issues with the “poorly researched” press announcement.
On November 17 Avon and Somerset Police announced it would be introducing the use of ‘spit hoods’ across the force area from next year. The hoods made of mesh are shaped like a plastic bag and are put over the heads of suspects who had threatened to spit, have attempted to spit or have spat before.
The National Police Chiefs Council, which issues guidance to police forces across the UK, said the advice on spit guards has not changed since it published a report in March 2017, but specific guidance on HIV was sent to police forces after feedback was received by Avon and Somerset.
A spokesperson said: “Our position paper on this was published back in March last year and our overall position on this has not changed. However, after receiving feedback from colleagues in Avon and Somerset we wrote to forces to give specific guidance on HIV and spit guards – entirely in line with our position.”
The police chief’s council guidance on spit guards released in March last year says the national picture for blood-borne viruses like HIV affecting officers is “unclear “.
It adds: “There are annually a very significant number of officers who are receiving precautionary treatment to prevent blood-borne viruses initial following spitting and biting incidents. Some of this treatment is intrusive, debilitating and can have a significant impact on officers’ personal lives.”
The conclusion reads: “The NPCC position is that the risk of transfer of blood-borne viruses through spitting or biting is very low, however the impact of infection would be extremely high.”
HIV is found in many bodily fluids of a sufferer including semen, vaginal and anal fluids, blood and breast milk.
The disease is most commonly contracted through unprotected sex and the sharing of needles. NHS England states HIV cannot be contracted through saliva.
Published in the Bristol Post on Jan 30, 2018
Webinar: PWN-USA HIV Criminalization First Responders Series: Activating Support Networks (PWN-USA, 2018)
The second webinar in the First Responder series focuses on activating support networks for people experiencing HIV criminalization. This webinar covers how to work with local coalitions and organizations, how to create fundraising campaigns, and how to create social support systems that keep people living with HIV who are incarcerated connected to their communities and community resources.
US: In Georgia, under HIV criminalisation laws, black men far more likely to be arrested and convicted
HIV Criminalization in Georgia
January 2018
Georgia laws that criminalize people living with HIV have resulted in 571 arrests from 1988 to September 2017, according to state-level criminal history record information analyzed by the Williams Institute. Analyses show some disparities in enforcement of the laws based on race, sex, geography, and underlying related offenses, including sex work and suspected sex work.
Researchers found that HIV-positive Georgians in rural areas were more likely to be arrested for an HIV-related crime than those living in urban areas. Black men were more likely to be convicted of an HIV-related offense than white men and convictions for HIV arrests were three times as likely when there was a concurrent sex work arrest.
This report provides the first-ever overview of the use and enforcement of HIV-related laws in Georgia.
Estonia: Partners should share responsibility for their own health
Nelly Kalikova: HIV-infected woman is only to blame for 50%
Known in Estonia, as a fighter against the spread of the AIDS epidemic, Dr Nelli Kalikova, believes that a man convicted to four years in prison for sexually transmitting HIV to a woman with HIV virus is no more to blame than the woman herself.
She told this to journalist Arthur Tooman in an online interview for rus.err.ee, whose full record can be viewed on the video.
In October, a verdict was pronounced against a 34-year-old man who was found guilty that, despite knowing about his HIV diagnosis, he had sex with women and infected at least one partner with HIV. The court decision resonated when a doctor who actively engaged in HIV and AIDS issues in Estonia, Nelly Kalikova, founder of the AIDS-i Tugikeskus AIDS Support Center, contacted the media for him.
“Yes, he made a mistake, but he received a punishment, as for an unintentional murder – these things are not comparable.”
Kalikova agrees that a punishment should have followed, but it could be in the form of monetary compensation for moral damage or conditional punishment. “It brings up not the severity of punishment, but its inevitability, because the criminals are born of the realization that they will never be punished,” Kalikova is sure.
The doctor believes that women who had sexual intercourse with this man should take care of themselves and use protection – if they did not do so, then they should share responsibility for what happened with their partner 50/50.
“Yes, he could have prevented this from happening, but he did not do it, and women had to be protected.” You do not have to jump into a cot without a condom, unless it’s your regular partner. “They’re not the poor lambs that the media represent, they had to think”.
Infected unintentionally, it was just negligence
Kalikova believes that it is wrong to say that the young man infected his partner intentionally. As well as to say that he infected them. “Intentionally, in this situation, this is when a person genuinely wants other people to have his ailment, this is the so-called AIDS-terrorism, in history such people are known, but this case is not one of them,” says the experienced doctor. In her opinion, it is simply a matter of frivolity and carelessness.
“Perhaps he reads a lot – and in recent scientific articles it is said that the percentage of HIV infection during sexual intercourse is not very large – about 0.4%,” Kalikova adds.
“The lesson for HIV-positive people from this whole story is that they will always be in danger,” Kalikova said, “They can always be handed in for nothing.” All the evidence is zero. “As the woman said, they believed her that way. it’s bad, “Nelly Kalikova said,” Women who do not use condoms do not take any responsibility for themselves and for society. ”
When asked by a journalist whether HIV-positive people should warn their partners about the disease, Kalikova replied that it is not necessary to do this if a condom is used.
In addition, she believes that such confessions frightesn off partners, that it, in fact deprives the infected from the opportunity to create any close relationship. “There are only rare cases when there is a lot of love and for the sake of a relationship the partner is ready for anything,” Kalikova said.
If it breaks, the risk is great, and the partner must have the right to choose whether to take risks or not,” the journalist retorted.
“If we demand 100% of the recognition of our disease in HIV-positive people, we will put an end to the sexual life of all such people.” Of the 20 partners to whom an infected person makes a confession, he will at best have one. ”
“Let a person have a sexual life, and others should be responsible for their own health” – summed up the point of view of Kalikova Arthur Tooman. And the guest agreed with this opinion.
Kalikova also does not take responsibility for himself
In the article Õhtuleht Nelly Kalikova accuses the media, police, court, doctors, centers for working with HIV-infected people in misconduct in relation to this case. During the interview for rus.err.ee it was found out that, at the same time, she does not relieve herself of responsibility.
“Yes, if we lived in a world where the students 100% follow the behests of the teacher, our society would be different, but that’s not so.”
According to Kalikova, in a street poll of 20-year-olds on how to protect themselves from AIDS, 99% will answer the question correctly. They are informed. But the question of using a condom with the last sexual contact is positively answered only by 50%. “This suggests that people are informed, but not motivated – the reasons for this may be different,” the doctor’s statistics show.
Estonian society is immature in relation to HIV-infected people
Speaking of the response to her article-opinion in Õhtuleht, Kalikova points out that the rhetoric of comments is the rhetoric of an immature society in matters of HIV.
HIV emerged in the early 1980s in the United States – horrible discrimination against HIV-infected was occurring. Then the society began to gradually understand that this is a disease, and now in the West the society is at a fairly tolerant level. Estonia is still 15 years old.
Punished disproportionate to the crime
Kalikova certainly recognizes that the young man has committed a crime and should be punished, but she does not agree with the manner in which justice was administered over him and how severe the sentence was.
“Everything was done in a non-human way, and in this case the girl received nothing except hassle and shame, and if she had been awarded monetary compensation for moral damage, then all parties would win.”
Нелли Каликова: заразивший ВИЧ женщину мужчина виноват лишь на 50%
Известный в Эстонии борец с распространением эпидемии СПИДа, врач Нелли Каликова, считает, что осужденный на четыре года тюрьмы за заражение половым путем женщины вирусом ВИЧ мужчина виноват не более, чем сама эта женщина.
Об этом она сказала журналисту Артуру Тооману в онлайн-интервью для rus.err.ee, полную запись которого можно посмотреть на видео.
В октябре был оглашен приговор в отношении 34-летнего мужчины, которого признали виновным в том, что, зная о своем диагнозе ВИЧ, он вступал в половые связи с женщинами и заразил по крайней мере одну партнершу ВИЧ-инфекцией. Судебное решение получило резонанс, когда в СМИ за него вступилась врач, активно занимающаяся в Эстонии проблемами ВИЧ и СПИДа, учредитель центра поддержки в борьбе со СПИД-ом AIDS-i Tugikeskus Нелли Каликова.
“Да, он совершил ошибку, но наказание получил, как за непредумышленное убийство – эти вещи несравнимы”.
Каликова согласна, что наказание должно было последовать, но оно могло бы быть в виде денежной компенсации морального ущерба или условного наказания. “Воспитывает не суровость наказания, а его неотвратимость, потому что преступников плодит осознание того, что их никогда не накажут”, – уверена Каликова.
Врач считает, что женщины, вступившие в половую связь с этим мужчиной, должны были сами позаботиться о своем здоровье и использовать защиту – раз они этого не сделали, то ответственность за случившееся они должны разделить со своим партнером 50/50.
“Да, он мог предотвратить случившееся, но этого не сделал, а женщины были обязаны предохраняться. Не надо прыгать в койку без презерватива, если это не твой постоянный партнер. Они далеко не бедные овечки, какими их представляют СМИ. Они должны были думать”
Заражал ненамеренно, это была просто халатность
Каликова считает, что говорить о том, что молодой человек заражал своих партнерш намеренно – неправильно. Так же, как и утверждать, что именно он их заразил. “Намеренно, в данной ситуации – это когда человек искренне желает, чтобы его недугом обзавелись и другие. Это так называемый СПИД-терроризм, в истории такие люди известны, но данный случай – не такой”, – говорит опытный врач. По ее мнению, речь идет просто о легкомысленном и халатном отношении.
“Возможно, он много читал – а в последних научных статьях говорится о том, что процент заражения ВИЧ при половом контакте не очень велик – около 0,4%”, – добавляет Каликова.
“Ату его, ату!”
“Урок для ВИЧ-позитивных из всей этой истории – тот , что они всегда будут по жизни в опасности, – уверена Каликова, – Их всегда могут сдать ни за что. Все доказательства – нулевые. Как женщина сказала, так ей и поверили. И это плохо! – считает Нелли Каликова. – Женщины, не использующие презервативы, не несут никакой ответственности перед собой и перед обществом”.
На вопрос журналиста, должны ли ВИЧ-инфицированные предупреждать своих партнеров о недуге, Каликова ответила, что это делать не обязательно, если используется перезерватив.
Кроме того, она считает, что подобные признания отпугивают партнеров, то есть фактически лишают инфицированных возможности создать какие-либо близкие отношения. “Бывают лишь редкие случаи, когда случается большая любовь и ради отношений партнер готов на все”, – говорит Каликова.
А если он порвется. Риск большой. И право на выбор – рисковать или нет – партнер должен иметь”, – парировал журналист.
“Если мы будем требовать в 100% случаях признания своего заболевания у ВИЧ-инфицированных, то мы поставим крест на сексуальной жизни всех таких людей. Из 20 партнеров, которым инфицированный сделает признание, у него в лучшем случае останется один”.
“Пусть у человека будет сексуальная жизнь, а другие пусть несут ответственность за свое здоровье сами?” – подытожил точку зрения Каликовой Артур Тооман. И гостья согласилась с этим мнением.
С себя ответственности Каликова тоже не снимает
В статье Õhtuleht Нелли Каликова обвиняет СМИ, полицию, суд, врачей, центры по работе с ВИЧ-инфицированными в неправильном поведении применительно к данному случаю. В ходе интервью для rus.err.ee выяснилось, чтоо при этом она не снимает ответственности и с себя.
“Да, если бы мы жили в мире, где ученики 100%-но следуют заветам учителя, то наше общество было бы другим. Но это не так”.
По словам Каликовой, при уличном опросе 20-летних на тему, как уберечься от СПИДа, 99% ответят на вопрос правильно. Они информированы. Но на вопрос об использовании презерватива при последнем половом контакте положительно ответит только 50%. “Это говорит о том, что люди проинформированы, но не мотивированы – причины этому могут быть разные”, – приводит статистику исследований врач.
Эстонское общество незрело в отношении к ВИЧ-инфицированным
Говоря об отклике на ее статью-мнение в Õhtuleht, Каликова указывает на то, что риторика комментариев – это риторика незрелого общества в вопросах ВИЧ.
ВИЧ появился в начале 1980-х в США – творилась ужасная дискриминация в отношении ВИЧ-инфицированных. Затем общество начало постепенно понимать, что это болезнь, и сейчас на западе общество находится на достаточно толерантном уровне. Эстонии до него еще идти лет 15.
Наказан непропорционально преступлению
Каликова безусловно признает, что молодой человек совершил преступление и должен быть наказан, но она не согласна с тем, каким образом над ним вершилось правосудие и насколько суров был приговор.
“Все было сделано не по-людски. Да и девушка в этом случае ничего не получила, кроме нервотрепки и позора. А если бы ему присудили денежную компенсацию морального ущерба, то выиграли бы все стороны”.
African Commission launches report providing framework for an African human rights-based response to HIV
News release: Human Rights organisations applaud African Commission’s launch of HIV report
Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire – On this International Human Rights Day, regional human rights organisations commend the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) on the adoption and launch of the summary version of the Report on the Law and Human Rights in the African Human Rights System: Key Challenges and Opportunities during ICASA 2017 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
The Report was developed by the Commission’s Committee on the Protection of the Rights of People Living with HIV and Those at Risk, Vulnerable to and Affected by HIV (HIV Committee) through a process of extensive consultation and engagement with experts and civil society over a period of two years. This report is the first of its kind. It provides a framework for an African human rights-based response to HIV. It illustrates what human rights law demands of States in the context of HIV, and describes both barriers and good practices for effective rights-based responses. As a body vested with the broad mandate for the protection and promotion of human rights in Africa, it is significant that the Commission is recognising HIV as an urgent and significant human rights concern.
In trying to push for an end to the HIV epidemic, some States in the region continue to propose and implement coercive and punitive solutions that violate human rights. While there have been great strides in new biomedical interventions in the HIV response, the Commission’s Report is a reminder that the end of HIV will not be achieved without human rights at the heart of the response.
“The Commission is a critical instrument for enforcing human rights in Africa. We commend the Commission for its leadership in ensuring that human rights are at the centre of the HIV response. The advancements in medicines for HIV and models of care cannot be of any use unless people’s human rights are respected and structural barriers to accessing HIV care and treatment are removed,” said Michaela Clayton, Director of the AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA).
“Through the Report, the Commission affirms the obligation of States to promote non-discrimination particularly, discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity; and to address the systemic violations of the rights of key populations and marginalised groups in particular, the right to health which exacerbates vulnerability to HIV ,” says Humphrey Ndondo, Executive Director of the African Men for Sexual Health and Rights (AMSHeR).
“We hope that the Report will guide the Commission, States, and other stakeholders, in their decision making,” said Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh, Executive Director of the Southern Africa Litigation Centre. “We call on States to engage with this important Report, and take note of both the barriers and good practices described.”
International Human Rights Day, marked on 10 December, must serve as a reminder of the importance of human rights when addressing HIV. It is a day where society should not only celebrate human rights, but keep in mind the long road ahead and the continuing human rights challenges that must be addressed if we are to end AIDS as a public health threat.
ENDS
For more info:
Lesley Odendal, Communications Lead, AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA): communications@arasa.info, +27 72 960 8991
Annabel Raw, Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC): annabelr@salc.org.za, +27 10 596 8538
See www.achpr.org for more about the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) and the report.
Malawi: Police officers urged to stop criminalising sex-workers due to their HIV status
Malawi law enforcers urged to desist from criminalizing sex-workers over HIV/AIDS status
LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-The Malawi Police Services’ (MPS) officers have been urged to desist from criminalizing sex-workers due to their HIV and AIDS status when they come to conflict with the law.
This reduce cases of defaulting the drug prolonged-life, ARVs when are on remand cell as they become uncooperative with the law-enforcers
The call will also enhance cordial relationship men in uniform they have with sex-worker as they harbor criminals when playing their trade.
In an exclusive interview with The Maravi Post in the sidelines of World AIDSDAY that falls on December 1st yearly, Priest Mpemba, Kanengo Police Model station HIV/AIDS Coordinator, said time was ripe for officers handle sex-workers in line with human rights principles.
Mpemba who is also DNA Forensic Investigator observed that some law-enforcers criminalize sex-workers during sweeping exercises due to their serial status.
The HIV/AIDS coordinator added that the laws of land do not criminalize sex-work but the act of being conflict with the constitution including robbery and violence among others.
On legalization of sex work in the country, the DNA Forensic Investigators said the matter was a policy issue which the county’s leadership must trade carefully regarding to how the society perceives sex workers.
With extensive sensitization the station is taking on HIV/AIDS, Mpemba expects a cordial relationship between the police and the public in ending the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the country.
On skills handling suspects living with HIV and AIDS, the coordinator said that the station expects fewer lawsuits.
“This year’s World AIDS DAY commemoration must focus as well on how sex-workers are being treated in the society. They are into that trade with various reasons but their rights must be respected as human beings. This is the reason the station using its own resources has been into intensive sensitization on the virus.
“Our officers should also treat suspects especially those living with the virus with dignity as human that they continue taking medication when are on remand. This will reduce drug defaulters and ease lawsuits the station receives,” says Mpemba.
Speaking Friday on World AIDS Day, at the Blantyre Youth Centre The Minister of Health and Population, Atupele Muluzi said that right to health is a fundamental human right, everybody has the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.
This year’s commemoration was under the theme ‘Right to Health: Access to Quality HIV Prevention and Treatment Services”.
Before the function, the Minister opened Umodzi Family Centre at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital. The centre will help facilitate HIV testing and treatment, TB screaming and offer reproductive health services.
AIDS is no longer the high-profile public health menace it once was thanks to the discovery in 2011 that antiretroviral treatment can not only suppress HIV in the bloodstream and reduce the risk of spreading the virus, but also, some experts predict, eventually end the epidemic.
Published in the Maravi Post on Dec 3, 2017
Philippines: LGBTQ rights groups and advocates appeal to government authorities and medias to "Stop HIV shaming"
‘Stop HIV shaming’: When status is not the story
MANILA, Philippines – When agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) arrested 11 men in a drug bust at a hotel in Taguig City on Monday, November 27, the agency revealed more information than necessary during its press conference the following day.
Aside from announcing the raid yielded P387,000 worth of party drugs, PDEA showed mug shots of suspects and even mentioned that one of them is positive for HIV.
Immediately, mugshots photos of the suspects and keywords like “gay men,” “orgy,” and, “HIV” appeared in headlines and social media posts referring to the raid.
Netizens and advocates from the lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transexual, and queer (LGBTQ) community slammed the PDEA and media outlets that carried the angle for baring the mugshots and the disclosure of one’s HIV status. They argued that, by doing so, PDEA and the media outlets only helped perpetuate the stigma attached to the LGBTQ community and people living with HIV.
Unfortunately, this incident took place only 3 days before the world observes the World AIDS Day on Friday, December 1.
Guidelines for authorities
Disclosing to the media that one of the suspects tested positive for HIV was unnecessary, according to Senator Risa Hontiveros and several LGBTQ rights groups and advocates, like Dakila, Red Whistle, Pedal HIV, and UP Babaylan.
Their appeal to government authorities is the same: Stop HIV shaming. (READ: [DASH of SAS] Better police handling, media coverage of drugs and HIV needed)
“While the use of prohibited drugs is illegal, their sexual orientation and HIV status are unimportant and should have been treated with utmost sensitivity and respect,” UP Babaylan said in a statement.
While PDEA has since apologized, Hontiveros said in a statement released on Wednesday, November 29, that PDEA and law enforcement agencies should train themselves on the ethics and protocols in the proper handling of persons living with the human immunodeficiency virus (PLHIV).
“I welcome PDEA’s apology, but we cannot ignore the mental and emotional damage already inflicted on the said person. Living with HIV is not a crime. Whatever legal and criminal charges he is facing, testing positive for HIV has nothing to do with them,” Hontiveros said.
Hontiveros added that government agencies like PDEA should be at the forefront when it comes to fighting the stigma attached to PLHIV.
“Our authorities should help in telling the public that the HIV-AIDS epidemic can be effectively addressed and that persons living with HIV should have their rights protected. Our authorities should not aid the further stigmatization of those living with the disease,” she added.
Media reporting
Advocates, on the other hand, chided media groups that carried the angle for their unethical and sensational reporting. According to them, media groups that unnecessarily highlighted the HIV reference violated the confidentiality clause stated in the Republic Act 8504 or the Philippines AIDS Prevention and Control Act of 1998.
Article 6 of the HIV law generally aims to promote confidentiality in handling all medical information, particularly the identity and status of PLHIV. (INFOGRAPHIC: How is HIV transmitted?)
In the Philippines, there are no clear guidelines and prohibition in media on HIV disclosure. Bills filed by Dinagat Island Representative Kaka Bag-ao and Senator Risa Hontiveros seek to address this gap by strengthening the confidentiality clause of the current HIV law.
Globally, groups observe the following ethical guidelines and principles in reporting about HIV and AIDS:
- Accuracy is critical.
- Misconceptions should be debunked.
- Clarity means being prepared to discuss sex.
- Balance means giving due weight to the story.
- Journalists should hold all decision makers to account.
- Journalists should ensure that the voices and images of people living with and affected by HIV and AIDS are heard and seen.
- Journalists should respect the rights of people with HIV and AIDS.
- Particular care should be taken in dealing with children.
- Discrimination, prejudice, and stigma are very harmful.
These guidelines were echoed by the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), a media watchdog.
In a phone interview with Rappler, CMFR editorial manager Lawrence Idia said journalists bear the responsibility of discerning which information to report to the public.
“On the part of the media, when you obtain information, you should also make sure that it does not cause any harm or violate privacy. In this case, the stigma should not have been reinforced,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.
Idia said setting guidelines for the media on reporting sensitive issues like HIV and AIDS would be good starting point in helping break the stigma.
Fighting the stigma
Advocates agreed that the actions of PDEA and some media groups greatly affected the country’s fight against the stigma attached to PLHIV and against the health epidemic in general.
Last August, the Department of Health (DOH) cited the latest data from the UNAIDS Report on global HIV epidemic states, and announced that the Philippines has the “fastest growing” HIV epidemic in Asia-Pacific.
According to the report, the new HIV cases among Filipinos more than doubled from 4,300 in 2010 to 10,500 in 2016.
“Just reading the comments from the articles about the buy-bust is disheartening. This stigma against the LGBTQ+ Community and people with HIV/AIDS should not be tolerated,” Dakila communications director Cha Roque said.
In any case, this drawback did little to dampen the spirits of advocates who are at the frontlines in the goal to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS.
“We need to be constantly talking about how our society deals with the LGBTQ+ community. Dakila believes that as much as we celebrate that ‘love wins,’ we shall also remember that with love comes the right to express yourself, and not to be discriminated for it,” added Roque. – Rappler.com
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 from across Mexico – alongside HIV JUSTICE WORLDWIDE partners CNET+ (Belize), Sero Project (USA), and the HIV Justice Network – to discuss the current state of HIV criminalisation nationally, regionally and globally.
As well as learning about HIV criminalisation around the world; the global movement to end HIV criminalisation; and the importance of the leadership of Networks of People Living with HIV, participants discussed reform initiatives in the three states where specific problematic laws exist (Veracruz) or were recently proposed (and Quintana Roo and San Luis Potosí).
In 2015, the Congress of Veracruz approved a reform of the Penal Code in order to add to the crime “of contagion” the term “sexually transmitted infections” (STI), among which are HIV and HPV, to “try to prevent the transmission of such infections, mainly to (vulnerable) women and girls.” The penalty includes six months to five years in prison and a fine of up to 50 days minimum wage for anyone who “maliciously” infects another person with an STI.
In San Luis Potosí, the governor, Juan Manuel Carreras López, proposed reforms to the Criminal Code, including the creation of article 182 bis, to punish “the person knowing that he is a carrier of a sexually transmitted disease. ..) endangers the health of another person through sexual intercourse “. Thanks to quick action by local activists, the proposed reforms did not pass.
In Quintana Roo, last year Congresswoman Laura Beristain proposed reforming Article 113 of the Criminal Code to punish anyone who transmits HIV with up to 25 years in prison. A few weeks ago, following a meeting with activists including those who attend the ‘HIV is not a crime meeting’, she committed to dropping the proposal.
In addition to these HIV-specific laws, the meeting heard that 30 the 32 states that make up the Mexican Republic have a public health law that sanctions exposure to sexually transmitted infections. Only the states of Aguascalientes and San Luis Potosí do not have this law.
According to data from Letra S, at least 39 people have been prosecuted under this law between 2000 and 2016 on suspicion of having transmitted a sexual infection and / or HIV. The state with the highest number of registered cases is Veracruz, with 15; Sonora follows, with nine; Tamaulipas and State of Mexico, with five; Chihuahua, with three, and Mexico City and Nuevo León with a case.
Last year, the Veracruz Multisectoral Group on HIV / AIDS and STIs and the National Commission on Human Rights challenged the Veracruz law on unconstitutionality grounds at the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation. The challenge was supported by HIV JUSTICE WORLDWIDE in a widely reported press conference last year. However, the Supreme Court has yet to rule.
As a result of the meeting, the Mexican Network of organisations against the criminalisation of HIV was formed, bringing together 29 organizations from all over the country. During, and immediately following the meeting, the Network drafted an 11-point Declaration addressed to various governmental agencies in charge of responding to the epidemic, as well as to society in general.
Among the key points in the Declaration, they note that the Mexican State is required to assume the commitment to guarantee an integrated response to HIV (prevention, timely diagnosis and comprehensive attention) and stresses that it is not the task of the judicial authorities to develop and implement measures to prevent transmission of HIV.
The declaration also emphasises that the criminalisation of HIV exposure through “risk or danger of HIV infection” and other public health statutes that appear in the laws of individual Mexican states are generating more harm than good in terms of impact on public health, in addition to preventing the guarantee of respect for the human rights of people with HIV.
With two weeks of the meeting, Network representatives met with Congresswoman Laura Beristain, who had proposed the new unjust, overly broad HIV criminal law in Quintana Roo. She listened to their arguments, read the Declaration, and immediately gave a firm commitment to repeal Quintana Roo’s problematic provisions in Article 113.
Watch and share short video below about the meeting and the Network’s immediate advocacy win.
UK: Avon and Somerset Police apologise after being accused of spreading misinformation over the use of spithoods and HIV transmission
Avon and Somerset Police apology over spit hood statement
Avon and Somerset Police has apologised after announcing officers would wear spit hoods to prevent the transmission of diseases.
In a statement last week it said: “Each day we face being spat at, putting us at risk of HIV, hepatitis and tuberculosis”.
However several HIV and AIDS organisations have accused the force of spreading misinformation.
NHS guidelines state that HIV cannot be transmitted through saliva.
In a statement on Twitter, the force said: “We did not mean to cause any offence to people living with HIV or Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C, and we are very sorry if this has been the case.
“It was never our intention to reinforce stigma for people living with those conditions.
“Our aim has never been to focus attention on people living with health conditions, but to provide officers with means of protection from people who use spit as a weapon.”
‘Fuels misconceptions’
The British HIV Association said: “To be spat at is frightening and degrading and we really do empathise. But spitting does not, under any circumstances, transmit HIV.
“Suggesting that it might only fuels the misconceptions and stigma people with HIV face daily. Please don’t use HIV as justification for spit guards.”
Bristol-based HIV charity Brigstowe Project added: “We understand and sympathise with the need for police protection but implore Avon and Somerset Police to justify this using facts, not fiction.”
Avon and Somerset Police plans to introduce controversial spit hoods from January.
The transparent mesh fabric hoods are used to prevent those arrested from spitting or biting officers.
Published in the BBC on Nov 22, 2017