{"id":25923,"date":"2026-04-21T15:33:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T19:33:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/?post_type=publication22&#038;p=25923"},"modified":"2026-04-21T15:38:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T19:38:17","slug":"not-a-crime-indigenous-perspectives-on-hiv-criminalization-margaret-kisikaw-piyesis","status":"publish","type":"publication22","link":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/not-a-crime-indigenous-perspectives-on-hiv-criminalization-margaret-kisikaw-piyesis\/","title":{"rendered":"Not A Crime &#8211; Indigenous Perspectives on HIV Criminalization &#8211; Margaret Kisikaw Piyesis"},"content":{"rendered":"<iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border-radius: 12px;\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/episode\/2JkAtUQwU2C30vBa6m4Mwn?utm_source=generator\" width=\"100%\" height=\"152\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-testid=\"embed-iframe\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"e-10270-text encore-text-body-medium\" data-encore-id=\"text\" data-slate-node=\"element\"><span data-slate-node=\"text\"><span class=\"sc-fzUa-dk gFqrs\" data-slate-leaf=\"true\">Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing conversations we have had in recent months with people from Indigenous communities about the impact of HIV criminalization. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"e-10270-text encore-text-body-medium\" data-encore-id=\"text\" data-slate-node=\"element\"><span data-slate-node=\"text\"><span class=\"sc-fzUa-dk gFqrs\" data-slate-leaf=\"true\">In Canada, Indigenous people, especially women and youth, are disproportionately affected by HIV. Even though Indigenous people are only 5% of the total population, studies from 2020 that show Indigenous people represented over 18% of new HIV transmissions and 10% of all people living withHIV in Canada.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"e-10270-text encore-text-body-medium\" data-encore-id=\"text\" data-slate-node=\"element\"><span data-slate-node=\"text\"><span class=\"sc-fzUa-dk gFqrs\" data-slate-leaf=\"true\">We know of at least 224 cases in which a person living withHIV has been criminally charged based on accusations that they did not disclose their HIV status to a sex partner. People are almost always charged with aggravated sexual assault, which is one the most serious criminal offences in Canada. We also know that at least 15 Indigenous people have been charged (and there may be more), and that of 19 women living with HIV have been prosecuted to date in Canada, at least five of whom were Indigenous.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"e-10270-text encore-text-body-medium\" data-encore-id=\"text\" data-slate-node=\"element\"><span data-slate-node=\"text\"><span class=\"sc-fzUa-dk gFqrs\" data-slate-leaf=\"true\">Today we will be hearing from Margaret Kisikaw Piyesis, theOkim\u00e2w, (Chief Executive Officer), of CAAN Communities, Alliances &amp; Networks, a Canadian non-profit organization focused on HIV\/AIDS prevention and support within Indigenous communities. With a long history of leadership in Indigenous health advocacy, Margaret has dedicated her career to improving health outcomes for Indigenous peoples, especially those affected by HIV\/AIDS. Drawing on her Cree heritage, she integrates traditional Indigenous knowledgewith modern health practices, ensuring culturally relevant approaches in all of CAAN\u2019s initiatives. Margaret\u2019s work is characterized by her commitment to empowering communities, fostering collaboration, and creating lasting change in Indigenous health services.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"e-10270-text encore-text-body-medium\" data-encore-id=\"text\" data-slate-node=\"element\"><span data-slate-node=\"text\"><span class=\"sc-fzUa-dk gFqrs\" data-slate-leaf=\"true\">Check out CAAN <\/span><\/span><a class=\"e-10270-text-link e-10270-overflow-wrap-anywhere encore-internal-color-text-announcement e-10270-text-link--use-focus sc-cRTpUI dklloJ\" href=\"https:\/\/www.caan.ca\/\" data-encore-id=\"textLink\" data-slate-node=\"element\" data-slate-inline=\"true\"><span contenteditable=\"false\">\u2060<\/span><span data-slate-node=\"text\"><span class=\"sc-fzUa-dk gFqrs\" data-slate-leaf=\"true\">here<\/span><\/span><span contenteditable=\"false\">\u2060<\/span><\/a><span data-slate-node=\"text\"><span class=\"sc-fzUa-dk gFqrs\" data-slate-leaf=\"true\">. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"e-10270-text encore-text-body-medium\" data-encore-id=\"text\" data-slate-node=\"element\" 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data-slate-node=\"text\"><span class=\"sc-fzUa-dk gFqrs\" data-slate-leaf=\"true\">Find out what the Canadian Coalition to Reform HIV Criminalization is doing to fight the criminalization of HIV non-disclosure <\/span><\/span><a class=\"e-10270-text-link e-10270-overflow-wrap-anywhere encore-internal-color-text-announcement e-10270-text-link--use-focus sc-cRTpUI dklloJ\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hivcriminalization.ca\/\" data-encore-id=\"textLink\" data-slate-node=\"element\" data-slate-inline=\"true\"><span contenteditable=\"false\">\u2060<\/span><span data-slate-node=\"text\"><span class=\"sc-fzUa-dk gFqrs\" data-slate-leaf=\"true\">here<\/span><\/span><span contenteditable=\"false\">\u2060<\/span><\/a><span data-slate-node=\"text\"><span class=\"sc-fzUa-dk gFqrs\" data-slate-leaf=\"true\">. <\/span><\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"publication_topics":[148,152],"publication_type":[206],"publication_language":[184],"class_list":["post-25923","publication22","type-publication22","status-publish","hentry","publication_topics-criminalization","publication_topics-indigenous-communities","publication_type-podcast","publication_language-english"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication22\/25923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication22"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/publication22"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication22\/25923\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25924,"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication22\/25923\/revisions\/25924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"publication_topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication_topics?post=25923"},{"taxonomy":"publication_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication_type?post=25923"},{"taxonomy":"publication_language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication_language?post=25923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}