Publications

The HIV Legal Network and the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network (CAAN) make this submission in support of the plan of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (“CEDAW Committee”) to develop a new General Recommendation on Indigenous women on the topic of “equality and non-discrimination with a focus on Indigenous women and … Read more

This is a policy brief on the specific impact of HIV criminalization in Canada on women and gender-diverse people, including exploring how it contributes to, and manifests as a form of, gender-based violence. The brief identifies legal and policy issues that need to be addressed to reduce HIV criminalization and better protect women against gender-based … Read more

Guided by the past and working toward the future as we challenge wrongs, advance rights, and transform lives.

At writing, Canada is facing an unprecedented overdose crisis that is killing at alarming rates. Canada’s ongoing fixation on criminal prohibition as the primary approach to addressing drug use has led to a situation in which people who use drugs continue to face criminalization, political and social hostility, and limited access to harm reduction and health … Read more

There are marked differences between men, women, and gender-diverse people in terms of their drug use and how laws and policies affect them. However, insufficient attention is paid to the needs of women and gender-diverse people who use drugs and their access to health services, including harm reduction services. This is especially true for gender-diverse … Read more

We make this submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Mr. Felipe González Morales, to describe laws and policies that inhibit migrant sex workers and other marginalized communities from enjoying their right to freedom of association, as well as concrete steps that States, international organizations and the UN can take … Read more

In advance of the adoption of the List of Issues Prior to Reporting for Canada’s periodic review under the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (“CEDAW Convention”), to be held during the 76th Pre-Sessional Working Group (11 – 15 November, 2019), the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network (“HIV Legal Network”) … Read more

Harm Reduction International (HRI) and supporting organisations welcome the report by the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, and wish to take this opportunity to comment on the disproportionate impact of the criminal justice response to drugs on foreign nationals, including migrant women, in countries that retain the death penalty for drug offences. … Read more

Highlights of our work in Canada and around the world from April 1, 2018, to March 31, 2019.

Criminal law has perpetually trapped sex workers within dualities of criminality and victimization. Whereas the previous criminal offences concerning sex work framed sex workers in terms of nuisance and criminality, the passage of the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (PCEPA) in 2014 legally enshrined sex workers as victims, invalidating the labour of sex … Read more