Publication Language: English

Submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights: Review of the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act

In February 2022, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights undertook a review of The Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act. The HIV Legal Network appeared before the Committee to describe how human rights violations against sex workers have escalated with the passage of the law, which has fueled stigma, … Read more

HIV, Human Rights, and Sex Work in Canada: Submission to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 47/17 entitled “Human rights in the context of HIV and AIDS”

A growing body of research confirms that the criminalization of any aspect of sex work, including the criminalization of clients, sex workers, and third parties in sex work, violates sex workers’ human rights and is in itself a social determinant of health by creating barriers to accessing health care services and building relationships with health … Read more

Submission to the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity

In response to the call for input from the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity (to inform his presentation to the 50th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council), the HIV Legal Network makes this submission regarding human rights violations against LGBTQ+ people in the … Read more

Report to the 134 Session of UN Human Rights Committee in relation to the review of the 8th Periodic Report of the Russian Federation

In its Concluding Observations of March 2015, the Committee recommended the Russian Federation take all the measures necessary to ensure that: (a) its policies vis-à-vis drug users deprived of their liberty fully conform to its obligation to effectively protect them against the pain and suffering associated with the withdrawal syndrome and that timely, adequate and … Read more

Centering Health, Respecting Rights: Understanding the Science, Public Health, and Human Rights Implications of Policing in the Context of HIV and Hepatitis C

On February 8, 2022, Wilfrid Laurier University’s Centre for Public Safety and Well-Being and the HIV Legal Network hosted a webinar about the science, public health, and human rights implications of HIV and Hepatitis C virus (HCV) as it relates to the provision of policing services. In this webinar, we explored how police forces in … Read more

Modest Win in Jamaica

For seven years, I have been in court fighting the Jamaican government and nine anti-gay religious groups for the right to kiss my partner. An 1864 British colonially imposed law makes acts of intimacy between men illegal, and my partner and I could be imprisoned for up to ten years at hard labour. Even worse, … Read more

Report to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: The implementation by Belarus of Article 12 (the right to health) with respect to people who use drugs and people living with HIV

This report is submitted by the HIV Legal Network and the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association. The report is based on official statistics, information from open sources and communications with civil society activists in Belarus. In the country report, the Government of Belarus informed CESCR that all HIV prevention programmes recommended by WHO have been implemented in … Read more

Report to the International Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR): Right to health of people who use drugs and people living with HIV in Uzbekistan

This report is submitted by the HIV Legal Network and the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association. The report is based on official statistics, information from the open sources, and communications with civil society activists in Uzbekistan. In 2014, the Committee noted the growing incidence of HIV and AIDS, particularly among people who inject drugs, and urged Uzbekistan … Read more