This paper makes the case that while women in Canada may not suffer the extremes of subordination faced by many of their counterparts in other parts of the world, inequality and violations of women’s human rights still contribute to their vulnerability and to the challenges they face in seeking treatment for HIV/AIDS. As in other … Read more
In December 2005, the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network released Sex, work, rights: reforming Canadian criminal laws on prostitution. The report examines the ways in which the prostitution-related provisions of the Criminal Code, and their enforcement, have criminalized many aspects of sex workers’ lives and have promoted their social marginalization. The Legal Network calls for the … Read more
This article summarizes the body of evidence generated via the Vancouver Injection Drug Users Study (VIDUS), discusses briefly the related human rights implications, and concludes with recommendations for action. Related Publications HIV/AIDS Policy and Law Review 10(3) December 2005
“Insite, Vancouver’s safe injection facility, is an essential harm reduction element of Vancouver’s “four-pillar” drug strategy. I am writing to you to seek your support for maintaining Insite as a harm reduction service and not allowing the Vancouver Police Department to turn it into a law enforcement tool…”
This booklet explains how Canada’s criminal laws related to prostitution affect the health and the human rights of sex workers. It recommends changes to those laws to improve the lives of sex workers. We hope it will be useful to sex workers who are already fighting for their rights every day, and to others who … Read more
This report is the product of a two-year project on criminal law, prostitution and the health and safety of sex workers in Canada. We conducted a literature review; interviewed key informants (including through a collaboration with the Native Friendship Centre of Montréal); and held a two-day consultation in February 2004 attended by sex workers, former … Read more
The global HIV/AIDS pandemic, and the role of unsafe drug injection as one of its principal drivers, have added to the list of harms associated with unsafe drug use. HIV/AIDS has highlighted ways in which prohibitionist drug policy causes or contributes to such harms and focused attention on the international regime of illicit drug control. … Read more
This article examines the human rights and public health implications of injection drug use in prisons with a specific focus on HIV and hepatitis C (HCV) viruses. The authors argue that prisoners who inject drugs have a right to access harm reduction measures — those that reduce the harmful consequences of drug use without necessarily … Read more
With this report, the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network seeks to contribute to the informed development of the laws, policies and programs people living with HIV/AIDS in Canada rely upon to provide them with income security when they are unable to meet their income needs through paid work. This goal is achieved in two ways. First, … Read more