HIV Criminalization – An Epidemic Of Ignorance? Press Conference at AIDS 2012 (Press Release)

For Immediate Release

****MEDIA ADVISORY****

Press Conference: 10am, Wednesday 25th July, Press Conference Room 2

HIV Criminalization – An Epidemic Of Ignorance?

Laws and prosecutions that single out people with living with HIV are ineffective, counterproductive and unjust.

As delegates from around the world meet this week in Washington DC at AIDS 2012 to discuss how to “end AIDS” through the application of the latest scientific advances, laws and policies based on stigma and ignorance are not only creating major barriers to prevention, testing, care and treatment, but also seriously violating the human rights of people living with HIV.

This is especially true in the United States, where 36 states and 2 territories have HIV-specific criminal statutes that single out people living with HIV as potential criminals. However, this growing epidemic of bad laws and prosecutions is a global problem that requires an internationally co-ordinated and concerted effort to overcome.

Come meet people living with HIV who have been involved in both sides of a prosecution as well as some of the experts and advocates who are part of a growing global movement, supported by UNAIDS and the UNDP-led Global Commission on HIV and the Law, working to ensure that the application of criminal laws, if any, to people living with HIV is fair, consistent, restrained, proportionate and appropriate, and serves justice without jeopardising public health objectives and fundamental human rights.

As well as two very personal stories that embody just how HIV criminalization is fundamentally wrong-headed and unjust, presentations will include:

· New data on the Top 15 global HIV criminalization hot-spots

· Preliminary results of SERO criminalization survey highlighting the devastating impact of HIV criminalization in the United States

· The Positive Justice Project’s consensus statement and the latest information on Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act

Hosted by (in alphabetical order):

· The Center for HIV Law & Policy / Positive Justice Project, United States

· Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+), Netherlands

· HIV Justice Network, United Kingdom/Germany

· INA (Maori, Indigenous & South Pacific) HIV/AIDS Foundation, New Zealand

· The SERO Project, United States

· Terrence Higgins Trust, United Kingdom

· UNAIDS, Switzerland

Chaired by Paul de Lay, Deputy Executive Director, UNAIDS, Switzerland, speakers will include:

· Nick Rhoades, HIV criminalization survivor, United States

· Marama Pala, former complainant, New Zealand

· Edwin J Bernard, Co-ordinator, HIV Justice Network, and Consultant, GNP+ Global Criminalisation Scan

· Laurel Sprague, Research Director – SERO, United States

· Lisa Fager Bediako, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation/ Positive Justice Project, United States.

A question and answer session will follow. The press conference will end at 10.45am.

To arrange interviews with any of the speakers please contact Edwin J Bernard via email or mobile.

Media Contact

Edwin J Bernard, Co-ordinator, HIV Justice Network

Mobile: +1.347.681.8411

Email: edwin(at)hivjustice.net

Media Stigma, HIV And Criminalization for AIDS 2012 (Leo Herrera, Sero Project, US, 2012)

SERO Project, Media Stigma, HIV And Criminalization for International AIDS Conference, Washington DC, July 2012.

Presentation by Sean Strub, Film by Leo Herrera.

Canada: New documentary, ‘Positive Women: Exposing Injustice’ has world premiere in Toronto

Last night saw the world premiere of a compelling, heart-wrenchingly moving 45 minute documentary film executive produced by the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network that tells the intimately personal stories of four women living with HIV in Canada. It argues that the current legal situation which criminalises sexual behaviour between consenting adults and discriminates against those living with HIV is irrational, ineffective and unjust.

Positive Women: Exposing Injustice features four courageous positive women bravely speaking from the heart on this important issue:

Diane, from Quebec (the defendant in the Supreme Court case R v DC) who was charged for not telling her partner that she had HIV at the beginning of an ultimately abusive relationship;
Jessica, a young woman who chose not to pursue charges against the man who infected her, and who has some of the best lines in the film (she calls disclosing her HIV-positive status, “dropping the H-bomb”!);
Lynn, an Aboriginal woman who has personally faced extreme stigma and violence due to her HIV-positive status; and
Claudia, a Latina woman who describes the challenges of disclosure and intimate relationships for women living with HIV.

Legal experts, doctors, counsellors and support workers also appear in the film to complement the women’s stories and to challenge current Canadian legal practice that is oppressing the very women they are meant to protect. Anyone who believes that HIV criminalisation protects women needs to see this film.

It will next be screened in Washington DC at the International AIDS Conference on Thursday July 26th in the Global Village Screening Room from 18:00-19:00. The screening will be followed by a question and answer session.

For more information about the documentary, which was produced and directed by Alison Duke, visit http://www.positivewomenthemovie.org/index.html

Norway: First gay man to be prosecuted goes public, makes a real difference (corrected)

Correction: Louis Gay tells me that he is not the first gay man to be prosecuted in Norway.

I am the first one to be prosecuted for practicing “safer sex” (oral sex, only. with no condom and no contact with sperm or precum), without transmitting any virus!

Original post: Yesterday, Bent Høie (Conservative), the leader of the Standing Committee on Health and Care Services, raised the issue of HIV in the Norwegian Parliament (Stortinget). He was concerned about the rise in new diagnoses in the country, and discussed increases in unprotected sex amongst gay men and other men who have sex with men, as well as lack of knowledge of HIV and HIV-related stigma within broader Norwegian society.

Notably, he linked these concerns with Section 155 of the Norwegian Penal Code. This infectious disease law enacted in 1902 is known as the ‘HIV paragraph’ since it has only ever been used to prosecute sexual HIV exposure or transmission. By placing the burden on HIV-positive individuals to both disclose HIV status and insist on condom use, the law essentially criminalises all unprotected sex by HIV-positive individuals even if their partner has been informed of their status, and consents. There is no distinction between penalties for HIV exposure or transmission. Both “willful” and “negligent” exposure and transmission are liable to prosecution, with a maximum prison sentence of six years for “willful” exposure or transmission and three years for “negligent” exposure or transmission.

The law is currently in the process of being revised by the so-called Syse-committee (named after its chair, Professor Syse but officially titled The Norwegian Law Commission on penal code and communicable diseases hazardous to public health), but at the moment, the current law stands. At least seventeen individuals have been prosecuted since 1999 – and until this year all prosecutions were as a result of heterosexual sex despite the fact that most HIV transmission in Norway is the result of sex between men.

Earlier this year, Norwegian prosecutors decided to prosecute the first gay man under this draconian law. Although transmission had been alleged, phylogenetic analysis ruled out Louis Gay’s virus as the source of the complainant’s infection. Still, he is being prosecuted for placing another person at risk despite the only possible risk being unprotected oral sex, and despite Louis disclosing his HIV-positive status prior to any sex (which the complainant denies).

Louis decided to go public in November 2011 during the initial police investigation. Since then he has given interviews to some of the largest circulation newspapers and magazine in Norway, as well as to national TV and radio. I had the pleasure of meeting Louis in Oslo in February when he addressed the civil society caucus that produced the Oslo Declaration.

As well as his own blog, Louis now also blogs about his experience for POZ.com. In his second post he notes that

I chose to go public before any final decision was made from the State attorney office, with the chance of provoking them to prosecute me because they don’t want to risk being criticized by media of giving in to pressure. This is fine with me. Like I’ve stated before I want to have my case tried before a court. Anyway! Now we all have to wait until the trial before we get any further answers about my case. In the meantime the discussion whether we should have a law like this (and using it like in my case) is protecting the society from more infections or just making it worse, continues.

So, yesterday, Louis’s brave stand paid off. Conservitive MP Bent Høie, the leader of the Standing Committee on Health and Care Services, mentioned Louis’ case in Stortinget.

Then it is a paradox that the social-liberal Norway still has an HIV-paragraph that is criminalizing HIV-positive people’s sexuality. This has now been brought to a head by the public prosecutor who has brought charges against HIV-positive Louis Gay, who has not infected any other person and who conducted what we call “safer sex”, which in reality is the health authorities’ recommendations. I am aware that Syse-committee is now working on this issue, but it is still necessary to highlight this in this debate, because current criminal law works against prevention strategy and stigmatize HIV-positive people. I hope that today’s debate could be the start of that we again have a strong political commitment to reducing new infections of HIV and to improve the lives of those who are HIV-positive – which in reality are two sides of the same coin.”

(Unofficial translation by Louis Gay)

I’m so impressed with Louis’s courage and determination, and I think that he actually might just be making a difference by going public. If you support Louis, let him know by leaving a comment here, or on his own blog, or at POZ.com.

High Level Policy Consultation on HIV Non-Disclosure, Exposure and Transmission (Oslo, Norway, 2012)

At the UNAIDS high level policy consultation on HIV non-disclosure, exposure and transmission meeting in Oslo, Norway on February 14, 2012, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé was characteristically frank in his comments prior to viewing Sean Strub’s short film, HIV is Not a Crime, and hearing comments from Robert Suttle (who is featured in the film).

Video courtesy of Sean Strub and filmed by Nicholas Feustel (georgetownmedia.de). Read more about the meeting in Sean’s blog at Poz Magazine.

Louis Gay, Norway (HJN, 2012)

Louis Gay describes his experiences with HIV criminalisation in Norway

Louis Gay, 40, presents his personal experiences with HIV criminalisation to the Civil Society Caucus on HIV Criminalisation in Oslo on 13th February 2012.

This pre-meeting to the UNAIDS High Level Policy Consultation on the Science and Law of Criminalisation of HIV Non-disclosure, Exposure and Transmission also produced the Oslo Declaration on HIV Criminalisation: hivjustice.net/oslo

The text of Louis’ testimony can found here:
louisgay72.blogspot.com/2012/02/february-13-2012-i-was-invited-to-at.html

To learn more about Louis and his ongoing fight for justice visit his blog (L.G. POZ) at louisgay72.blogspot.com

Oslo Declaration on HIV Criminalisation (HJN, 2012)

Advocates working to end inappropriate criminal prosecutions for HIV non-disclosure, potential exposure and non-intentional transmission from around the world explain why they support the Oslo Declaration on HIV Criminalisation.

Video produced for the HIV Justice Network by Nick Feustel, georgetown media.

Perpetuating Stigma (In The Life Media, US, 2012)

Public television stations across the United States aired Perpetuating Stigma, an episode from the award-winning documentary series In The Life, in February 2012. This special report investigates the injustices that arise when a person’s HIV status becomes a crime, with a focus on how women have been stigmatized and prosecuted under these laws.

Perpetuating Stigma features HIV positive women whose personal stories challenge the theory behind HIV criminalization laws and expose the reality of their impact.

“In The Life’s decision to continue coverage of HIV criminalization, specifically with a report on women, is motivated by the lack of a fair media perspective on this issue,” stated Michelle Kristel, executive director of In The Life Media.

Voices from the Field:
How Laws and Policies Affect HIV Responses

(5 mins, István Gábor Takács, 2011)

Delivered at the 29th meeting in December 2011, UNAIDS PCB NGO Delegation’s 2011 Report focuses on the importance of the legal environment to national HIV responses. For its findings, the NGO Delegation conducted a series of 27 focus groups, involving more than 240 participants from every region of the world.

This video, produced by István Gábor Takács of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, highlights the report’s key findings and recommendations to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) board and its Member States with regards to HIV strategies and related laws and policies.

HIV is Not a Crime

(8 min, Zero, USA, 2012)

This short film is part of Sero’s ongoing documentation of the experiences of people with HIV who have been prosecuted for “HIV crimes”. To see a growing collection of individual interviews please visit Sero’s video page.

Film by Sean Strub/Sero • Edited by Leo Herrera/HomoChic