MEDIA STATEMENT: “WE NEED DECRIMINALIZATION FOR ALL”: DRUG POLICY & HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS SAY MODEL IN BRITISH COLUMBIA LEAVES MANY BEHIND

“WE NEED DECRIMINALIZATION FOR ALL”: DRUG POLICY & HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS SAY MODEL IN BRITISH COLUMBIA LEAVES MANY BEHIND Health Canada’s landmark approval of “decriminalization” for B.C. raises concerns that many people who use drugs remain criminalized For immediate release June 1, 2022 – A growing group of drug policy and human rights organizations across Canada — comprising … Read more

MEDIA STATEMENT: Bill C-216

A Statement on Bill C-216 Bill C-216, being advanced by MP Gord Johns, is expected to come up for vote on June 1 and we urge MPs to vote to move the bill to committee stage For immediate release The following can be attributed to the HIV Legal Network May 25, 2022 — Bill C-216, … Read more

Prosecuting HIV-Related Criminal Cases in Canada: A Model Policy

Canada has been identified as a global hotspot of HIV-related prosecutions. As of 2022, there have been well over 200 prosecutions for alleged HIV non-disclosure in Canada. Canada’s use of the criminal law in relation to HIV has been recognized as overly broad and punitive by a wide range of stakeholders including the federal government, … Read more

Overview of HIV Criminalization in Canada 2022

Pre-symposium brief for participants of the 10th Symposium on HIV, Law, and Human Rights, outlining key, recent developments in the law of HIV non-disclosure.

MEDIA ADVISORY: PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV, AND OTHER LEADING CANADIAN EXPERTS TO SPEAK AT 10th SYMPOSIUM ON HIV, LAW, AND HUMAN RIGHTS

PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV, AND OTHER LEADING CANADIAN EXPERTS TO SPEAK AT 10th SYMPOSIUM ON HIV, LAW, AND HUMAN RIGHTS  Media Invited to Join Virtual Sessions on HIV Criminalization in Canada  For immediate release Members of the media are invited to attend HIV Criminalization: Challenging Injustice in Canada and Around the World — a free, bilingual (English/French), … Read more

Letter to Ministers Bennett and Duclos re: Threshold quantities in exemption requests

Today, the HIV Legal Network and 21 partner organizations sent a letter to Carolyn Bennett, federal Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health, and Jean-Yves Duclos, federal Minister of Health, asking them to refrain from establishing and requiring threshold quantities of drugs in provincial and municipal requests for exemption from the Controlled … Read more

HIV CRIMINALIZATION IN CANADA: KEY TRENDS AND PATTERNS (1989-2020)

In Canada, a person living with HIV can go to prison and be registered as a sex offender for life for not disclosing their HIV-positive status to a sexual partner in some circumstances. People are usually charged with (aggravated) sexual assault, due to the Supreme Court of Canada’s ruling that HIV non-disclosure can sometimes amount … Read more

Harms of Sex Offender Registries in Canada among people living with HIV

This paper examines the harms of sex offender registries (SOR) in Canada as experienced by people living with HIV. These harms are significant and wide-ranging, and include social harms, psychological harms, and harms to liberty and human dignity. Specifically, this paper examines the experiences of people living with HIV convicted of aggravated sexual assault for … Read more