Publications

There is an opioid overdose crisis in Canada. In 2017, a record 3,987 people in Canada died of apparent opioid overdoses, an increase of nearly 34% from 2,978 in 2016. As in the community as a whole, an increasing number of prisoners are overdosing — sometimes fatally — behind bars. Naloxone can temporarily reverse an … Read more

“Exploitation within the sex industry, including human trafficking, is of great concern to sex workers and to allied groups such as the Legal Network working to uphold sex workers’ human rights. However, anti-trafficking policies must be based on evidence and human rights — not ideological positions on sex work or moral panic.”

People living with HIV are allowed to travel to Canada. However, HIV status is one factor considered by the Government of Canada when deciding if a person can stay in Canada for an extended period of time. This Q&A provides information on how Canadian immigration law and policy affect people living with HIV who wish … Read more

The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network welcomes this opportunity to provide comments on recommendations that Canada has received during its third Universal Periodic Review (UPR), which took place on May 11, 2018. In this brief, the Legal Network provides comments on priority recommendations that Canada should consider accepting of the 299 recommendations received during the UPR. … Read more

Why the Caribbean? And why LGBTI human rights? As a region, the Caribbean has the second-highest HIV prevalence rate in the world, after sub-Saharan Africa. UNAIDS and regional and national agencies have identified homophobia as a factor contributing to this troubling statistic. In numerous countries, particularly the Commonwealth Caribbean, the criminalization of consensual same-sex relationships … Read more

From June 3-5, 2018 the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network participated in the 48th General Assembly (GA) of the Organization of American States (OAS) held in Washington D.C. Unlike most other OAS GAs, there was no central theme for the this gathering and so many issues were open for discussion.  The Legal Network therefore collaborated with other civil society organizations working on similar issues, including LGBTI human rights, sex worker rights, drug use … Read more

“Repressive drug control laws and policies around the world have fueled the HIV and hepatitis C (HCV) epidemics and contributed to mounting human rights violations against people who use drugs. The upcoming Ministerial Segment of the 62nd session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) in March 2019 represents another important opportunity for Member … Read more

Three Barbadians — a trans woman, a lesbian and a gay man — have filed a petition against Barbados before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) challenging  laws criminalizing “buggery” and other intimacy between consenting partners, including partners of the same-sex, as violating numerous rights guaranteed in the American Convention on Human Rights. This … Read more

The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network promotes the human rights of people living with, at risk of or affected by HIV or AIDS, in Canada and internationally, through research and analysis, litigation and other advocacy, public education and community mobilization. Since the 2012 publication of the final report of the Global Commission on HIV and the … Read more

This submission by the Legal Network, HALCO and PASAN details the rights of prisoners to the equivalent access to health care as people in the community and urges the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services to ensure these rights. We call on the Ministries to make … Read more