Our most recent posts are listed below. To learn more about a specific issue, select a topic under “Our Work” in the menu above.
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Raising the Bar – 2023/2024 Annual Report
The creation of our annual report always gives us a unique opportunity to look back at a year’s worth of important work with hindsight, clarity, and pride. As you will see in Raising the Bar — our 2023/24 annual report — our successes and challenges don’t begin and end with the flip of a calendar … Read more
Know Your Rights: on drug laws for African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) people who use drugs
Across Canada, African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) people face state-sanctioned violence that is deeply rooted in the legacy of slavery and the enduring presence of anti-Black racism, which manifests in Canada’s drug laws. Black people are racially profiled and disproportionately criminalized and targeted by drug laws, which are themselves rooted in colonialism and the oppression … Read more
Know Your Rights: on drug laws for Indigenous people who use drugs
Drug policy in Canada is rooted in racism and colonialism, and Indigenous communities have experienced long histories of drug policy harms. Among Indigenous people living with HIV, transmissions are attributable to injection drug use at a much higher rate than for non-Indigenous populations, while Indigenous peoples have also suffered a disproportionate proportion of fatal overdoses … Read more
Know Your Rights on drug laws for African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) people who use drugs
Coming Soon.
Submissions to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women: Review of Canada at 89th Session (October 7-25, 2024)
Submission on sex work, women who use drugs and gender-based violence, and HIV criminalization. Joint submission with the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition on drug policy and harm reduction, with sections on women and gender-diverse people in relation to (1) gender-based violence; (2) HIV prevention, access to culturally appropriate and gender-sensitive harm reduction services, and drug decriminalization; … Read more
Connection, Care, Community
Drug policy affects the health of queer people and communities. The health of queer people who use drugs must not be overlooked in our fight for sensible drug policy. And 2SLGBTQ+ rights organizations must not ignore the rights and health of queer people who use drugs. Our new resources aim to raise awareness and build … Read more
Backgrounder: The HIV Legal Network and the Caribbean
As a region, the Caribbean has the second-highest HIV prevalence rate in the world, after sub-Saharan Africa. UNAIDS and regional and national agencies have long identified homophobia as a factor contributing to this startling statistic. The legal and social environment varies significantly across the region, as does community organizing to defend and advance the human … Read more
How to Innovate in an Emergency
This paper examines the legal and policy measures needed to scale up safe supply at supervised consumption services in Canada.
Rapid Q&A – An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on April 16, 2024
Rapid Q&A prepared by the HIV Legal Network on May 7, 2024.
Media Statement – Government of Ontario Plan Will Lead to More Preventable Drug Poisoning Deaths
Ontario’s new restrictions on supervised consumption services will result in more death during a worsening drug poisoning crisis; dead people cannot enter treatment. This statement can be attributed to the HIV Legal Network, the AIDS Committee of Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo, and Area (ACCKWA), Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, Drug Strategy Network of Ontario, DIY Community Health … Read more
CANADA MUST END THE CRIMINALIZATION OF PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV NOW
For immediate release Aussi disponible en français : The Government of Canada knows that law reform is needed but has yet to act in Parliament — and the world is watching as international advocates gather at AIDS 2024 in Munich The following statement can be attributed to the Canadian Coalition to Reform HIV Criminalization July 16, … Read more
Media Release – New Report from HIV Legal Network Examines Legal and Policy Barriers to Supervised Consumption Services in Canada
With supervised consumption services under attack in Canada, this report details an evidence-based response to scaling up life-saving services for people who use drugs For immediate release Thursday, May 30, 2024 — Toronto — The HIV Legal Network is sharing new evidence that underfunding and the strict regulations imposed on supervised consumption services (SCS) are … Read more
Press Release: Sex Workers Denied Day in Court: The Injustice of Litigating Sex Work Law Without Sex Workers
May 28, 2024 – For immediate release – The Supreme Court of Canada has rejected sex workers’ request to intervene and participate in Kloubakov v Canada, a case concerning the constitutionality of sex work laws based on sex workers’ Charter rights. The Canadian Alliance for Sex Work Law Reform (CASWLR) is a coalition of 23 … Read more
Media Release – Grieving mother urges honesty and action at federal toxic drug crisis committee
Ottawa, ON | April 29, 2024 – On the eve of the tenth anniversary of her son Danny’s death from unregulated drugs, Petra Schulz, co-founder of Moms Stop the Harm (MSTH), will testify before the federal Standing Committee on Health (HESA) today on the “Opioid Epidemic and Toxic Drug Crisis.” Since MSTH’s founding in 2016, … Read more
Major victory for LGBTQ+ rights in Dominica
Today, in a major win for human rights — and LGBTQ+ rights, in particular —, the High Court of Justice in Dominica struck down two sections of the country’s Sexual Offences Act (SOA) that criminalize same-sex intimacy. This welcome decision in the constitutional challenge, launched by a gay man who must remain anonymous for his … Read more
Statement – Challenging the constitutionality of Canada’s “excessive demand” regime in federal court.
The HIV Legal Network and a client of Battista Migration Law Group are challenging the constitutionality of Canada’s “excessive demand” regime in federal court. On February 2, 2024, we filed legal arguments and materials challenging the decision of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to deny a work permit based on an applicant’s HIV status. … Read more
MEDIA RELEASE: TODAY MARKS INTERNATIONAL HIV IS NOT A CRIME AWARENESS DAY. PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV IN CANADA DESERVE BETTER.
TODAY MARKS INTERNATIONAL HIV IS NOT A CRIME AWARENESS DAY. PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV IN CANADA DESERVE BETTER. The Government of Canada has long promised law reform in this country. Why are we still waiting? For immediate release The following can be attributed to the Canadian Coalition to Reform HIV Criminalization Wednesday, February 28, 2024 … Read more
National Organizations Deeply Concerned with Saskatchewan’s Health Policy Shift
People who use drugs will suffer the consequences of backward-thinking and restrictive policies January 26, 2024 | Two leading national human rights organizations have addressed the Saskatchewan provincial government to express profound concern over changes that restrict access to vital harm reduction supplies and safety information. The HIV Legal Network and the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition sent the … Read more
More than 130 experts in substance use call on Federal Government to continue to support and scale-up Safer Supply Programs
Amidst worsening drug poisoning crisis, Canada must show leadership to stop the deaths For immediate release, Thursday, December 14, 2023 – As funding for 21 currently operating safer supply programs across Canada is set to end in March 2024, 131 Canadian experts in substance use – including researchers, front-line physicians and nurse practitioners working directly … Read more