Publications

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

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

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

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

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

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

Since 2012, more than 20 laws have been implemented and are actively applied in the Russian Federation that create significant obstacles for HIV service NPOs that receive foreign financing (laws regulating legal entities–foreign agents, MMO-foreign agents, individuals–foreign agents, citizen groups–foreign agents, and laws regulating undesirable organizations). The effects of these laws are compounded by prohibitions … Read more

There is considerable variance in how countries in the regions of Eastern, Central and Southern Europe, as well as Central Asia and Transcaucasia, are affected by “the world drug problem” and their responses to this public health challenge. However, what they face in common is a high prevalence of injection drug use (IDU) and serious … Read more

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

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