Publications

This document will inform you about: when there is a legal duty to disclose HIV-positive status; the current evidence about the risk of HIV transmission with and without condoms; the current state of the law about condom use and HIV disclosure; and why people who use condoms should not be prosecuted for not disclosing HIV-positive … Read more

This document will inform you about: when there is a legal duty to disclose HIV-positive status; the current evidence regarding the impact of ARV treatment and viral load on the risk of HIV transmission; the current state of the law regarding viral load and HIV disclosure; and why people should not be prosecuted or convicted … Read more

FEATURE Bedford v. Canada: a paradigmatic case toward ensuring the human and health rights of sex workers A tale of two cases: urging caution in the prosecution of HIV non-disclosure CANADIAN DEVELOPMENTS Senate stalling derails bill to fix Canada’s law on affordable generic medicines for developing countries Ontario: study documents access and quality of care … Read more

Two provincial Courts of Appeal have recently released unanimous decisions that clarify the law regarding the obligation imposed upon people living with HIV to disclose their HIV status prior to sexual relations. The decision of the Manitoba Court of Appeal in R v. Mabior and of the Quebec Court of Appeal in R c. D.C. … Read more

The Criminal Code of Canada prohibits certain aspects of sex work: the keeping of a common bawdy-house, living off the avails of prostitution and communicating for the purposes of prostitution in a public place. These legal constraints impede sex workers’ ability to practise their profession safely and without risk to their bodily integrity; they also … Read more

We, the undersigned non-governmental organizations representing affected communities and working in the field of HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment, in Canada and around the world, address you in advance of the Millennium Development Goal 6 International Forum taking place in Moscow, Russia on October 10–12, 2011.

1. Laws and practices that criminalize people living with HIV and vulnerable to HIV People who use drugs People in prison Sex workers Criminalization of HIV non-disclosure 2. Laws and practices that facilitate or impede HIV-related treatment access Canada’s Access to Medicines Regime

HRC Resolution 16/3, “Promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms through a better understanding of traditional values of humankind” stresses that “traditions shall not be invoked to justify harmful practices violating universal human rights norms and standards.” In order to gain such an understanding, the Advisory Committee must discuss both the negative and positive ways in … Read more

“We urge the Russian government to abolish the criminal ban on methadone, to support rather than repress harm reduction programs and workers, and to reform its drug laws so as to place health concerns, not further pointless and harsh criminalization and punishment, at the centre of Russia’s response to drugs and the related harms they … Read more