Overview
The right to privacy is a fundamental human right. Except in narrow circumstances that must be legally and ethically justified, all people, including those living with HIV, should have the power to decide how, when, to whom, and to what extent their personal health information is shared.
People living with HIV often suffer discrimination as a result of the unauthorized disclosure of their HIV status. As a result, many lose their jobs, housing and insurance, and see their personal relationships with family and friends compromised.
Our work contributes to the informed development of Canadian laws and policies that support the right to privacy and the confidentiality of health information of people living with HIV.
Protecting and promoting the human right to privacy is essential to meeting the public health goals of lessening the impact of HIV on individuals and communities and minimizing its transmission and to recognizing the inherent dignity of people affected by HIV.
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Rights Within Reach: Strategic Plan 2022-2027
The HIV Legal Network promotes the human rights of people living with HIV or AIDS and other populations disproportionately affected by HIV and criminalization, in Canada and internationally. In 2021, we undertook a planning process that would shape the strategic goals and priorities for the organization’s next five years (2022-2027). To do this, we sought … Read more
Rights Within Reach: Strategic Plan 2022-2027, Executive Summary
In 2021, the HIV Legal Network undertook a planning process that would shape the strategic goals and priorities for the organization’s next five years (2022-2027). To do this, we sought the input of a broad range of stakeholders, from partner organizations to people living with and affected by HIV and criminalization, to staff. All identified … Read more
Respect, Protect, Fulfill: Supporting the HIV Legal Network
Respect. Protect. Fulfill. You can help challenge wrongs, advance rights, and transform lives. Denied basic healthcare. Criminalized and vilified for love. Unfairly targeted by police. These abuses, and more, are too often the experience of people living with HIV and of communities affected by HIV. At the HIV Legal Network, our mission has always been … Read more
A Moment of Breakthrough: Annual Report 2020-2021
Seizing the moment to push for concrete and lasting change.