Publication Type: Advocacy

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

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

Decriminalization Done Right: A Rights-Based Path for Drug Policy

A CALL TO PUT HEALTH AND HUMAN RIGHTS FIRST Punitive drug laws and policies purported to deter drug use have failed — and worse, they have done catastrophic harm. They have fueled deadly stigma; epidemics of preventable illness and death; poverty; homelessness; and widespread, systematic, and egregious violations of human rights. They are rooted in, … Read more

Deputation to Toronto Board of Health re: Toronto’s submission to Health Canada for a section 56 exemption to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act

Today, Sandra Ka Hon Chu, Co-Executive Director at the HIV Legal Network, on behalf of Angela Robertson, Executive Director, Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre, and Jason Altenberg, Chief Executive Officer, South Riverdale Community Health Centre, made this deputation to the Toronto Board of Health regarding Toronto’s submission to Health Canada for a section 56 exemption to … 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

Human Rights Imperative: The HIV Legal Network in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Respect. Protect. Fulfill. You can help challenge wrongs, advance rights, and transform lives. In countries of the Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) region, people who use drugs are routinely denied basic healthcare and harm reduction services. They are unfairly targeted by police and subjected to torture. Parents face losing custody of their children. There … Read more

Covering Risk: HIV Criminalization and Condoms

In Canada, people living with HIV can be criminalized for not disclosing their status before engaging in a sexual activity where there is a “realistic possibility of HIV transmission.” Although the possibility of HIV transmission when a condom is used ranges from negligible to none, the law remains unsettled about whether condoms are sufficient on … Read more

Caught in the Carceral Web: Anti-Trafficking Laws and Policies and Their Impact on Migrant Sex Workers

In Canada, a complex and multiscalar web of laws has been constructed to target sex trafficking. These laws range from federal prohibitions against human trafficking in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and Criminal Code, to provincial laws that provide tools to raise awareness of the offence, to detect alleged traffickers and to provide victims … Read more

Intimate Conviction 2: Continuing the Decriminalization Dialogue volume

In November 2020, the HIV Legal Network hosted Intimate Conviction 2: Continuing the Decriminalization Dialogue conference online, inviting more than 30 expert speakers to share their knowledge and experience with laws criminalizing same-sex intimacy. We are now very pleased to share the edited volume of presentations from this conference. Here you will find personal stories of … Read more

Criminalization and stigma exacerbate violence against women who use drugs in the Russian Federation

Criminalization and stigma exacerbate violence against women who use drugs in the Russian Federation Report in relation to the 9th Periodic Report of the Russian Federation CEDAW/C/RUS/9 This report is submitted by Andrey Rylkov Foundation for Health and Social Justice (ARF) on behalf of the Russian Civil Society Mechanism for Monitoring of Drug Policy Reforms. … Read more