Michael Kirby’s Challenge: Intellectual Property, HIV/AIDS, and Human Rights Published on Tuesday, 22 July 2014 09:33 By Matthew Rimmer In July 2014, Melbourne hosted the 20th International AIDS Conference. The event opened, paying tribute to the late Dutch HIV/AIDS researcher…
Around the world, sex workers and people who use drugs report that police are often a major impediment to accessing health and social services.
Common police practices—using condoms as evidence of prostitution, harassing drug users at needle exchange points, or confiscating medications for drug treatment—fuel the HIV epidemic by driving sex workers and drug users away from life-saving services. Emerging partnerships between police, health experts, and community groups are beginning to prove that law enforcement and HIV-prevention programs can work together to save lives while reducing crime.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has issued guidance to help end HIV criminalization – the use of criminal law to prosecute and penalize people living with HIV for conduct that would be legal if they did not get tested or know their status. DOJ’s guidance, titled “Best Practices Guide to Reform HIV-Specific Criminal Laws to Align with Scientifically-Supported Factors,” provides technical assistance to ensure that HIV-related criminal laws and policies reflect contemporary medical and scientific understanding of the routes, risks, and consequences of HIV transmission.
11 JULY 2014 ¦ GENEVA – Failure to provide adequate HIV services for key groups – men who have sex with men, people in prison, people who inject drugs, sex workers and transgender people – threatens global progress on the HIV response, warns WHO.
The policy changes in Bangladesh and the judicial decisions in Nepal, Pakistan, and India which legally recognize a third gender will aid the fight against HIV and AIDS in Asia and the Pacific. Transgender people and hijras have been historically disadvantaged by punitive laws, social marginalization, and extreme stigma. This stigma manifests in social rejection, abandonment by parents, violence, and inability to find employment.