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- Reducing sexual transmission
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- 2011 Political Declaration: Targets and elimination commitments
More feature stories on punitive laws
- “Now more than ever”: Marchers in Vienna call for protection of human rights and HIV
- Downtown Vienna was the backdrop for last night’s HIV and human rights march and rally on 20 July. The public event took place during the 18th International AIDS Conference which has brought some 20,000 activists and HIV professionals to the Austrian capital.
- UNODC: humane and effective drug dependence treatment
- Detention of HIV positive drug users is not treatment for their dependence. Drug dependence is a health disorder and punishment is not the appropriate response. This was the key message contained in a UNODC discussion paper launched at the XVIII AIDS Conference in Vienna today.
- Rights Here, Rights Now! The Global Commission on HIV and the Law
- Legal frameworks can be powerful tools for countries struggling to control their epidemics. The last three decades have given rise to contentious legal debates on HIV-related issues (e.g.: criminalization of HIV transmission; legal restrictions on needle and syringe distribution in the US, on methadone in Russia, versus legal comprehensive harm reduction in Australia). The last few years have seen an insurgence of punitive laws and practices related to drug use, HIV transmission and exposure, sex work, and same sex sexual relations. There is also a growing body of evidence on the relationship between HIV and violence against women.
- A human rights-based approach to prevention: Mission impossible?
- From the left: Mirta Roses; Tripti Tandon at ‘Human Rights based approach to HIV Prevention: Mission Impossible’, 18 July 2010. Credit: UNAIDS/Anna Rauchenberger The Global Village of AIDS 2010 was the setting of a UNAIDS satellite session on HIV prevention and human rights. Participants discussed how evidence-informed and rights-based laws, policies and programmes can be scaled-up in support of a ‘prevention revolution’ to break the trajectory of the epidemic.
- UNAIDS calls for protection of human rights of men who have sex with men and sexual minorities at pre-conference forum
- “The human rights of men who have sex with men and other sexual minorities must be fully protected and respected if universal access to HIV services is to be achieved,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Mr Michel Sidibé.
- European Parliament votes for rights-based AIDS response
- In the lead up to the 2010 International AIDS Conference in Vienna, the European Parliament has voted on a Motion for a Resolution on a rights-based approach to the EU's response to HIV. Referring to the UNAIDS Outcome Framework 2009-2011, the Resolution strongly supports the Joint Programme's position on human rights issues such as decriminalization of sexual transmission, injecting drug users and on men who have sex with men.
- Research project during the World Cup gathers data on sex workers and HIV
- As part of the UN South Africa Programme of Support to the FIFA 2010 World Cup, UNFPA and SWEAT (Sex Worker Education & Advocacy Taskforce) partnered with South African researchers to investigate key dimensions of HIV and sex work during the tournament. This rigorous research was supported by a telephone helpline service to respond to health and human rights concerns of sex workers during the World Cup. According to Mr. Eric Harper, Executive Director of SWEAT: “These projects give weight to the rights watch dimension for most-at-risk-populations that is so vital when the largest sporting event in the world occurs.”
- Egyptian actor Amr Waked appointed UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador for Middle East and North Africa
- Renowned Egyptian actor Amr Waked has been named Regional Goodwill Ambassador for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). A popular star, Mr Waked is an influential figure with teenagers as well as adults across the region. Now, he joins UNAIDS' commitment to speaking out against stigma and discrimination of people living with or affected by HIV.
- Landmark forum in China to champion rights-based approach to HIV
- For the first time in China, government and civil society have formed a partnership to offer innovative ideas from a rights-based perspective to strengthen the national response to HIV. The China Red Ribbon Beijing Forum was launched on 5 July 2010 at a high-level meeting attended by Vice Minister of Health Yin Li and more than 100 members of civil society, including grassroots organizations.
- The judiciary and the AIDS response
- The AIDS epidemic has raised new and complex legal and human rights challenges leading to judicial rulings on matters related to HIV that have become part of the jurisprudence of many countries. Through interpretation of national constitutions, legislation and international human rights treaties, the judiciary has sometimes had a transformative and beneficial impact on the national response to HIV and on the public perception of HIV.
- UNAIDS addresses UN Human Rights Council on the impact of punitive laws on HIV
- As part of the 14th session of the UN Human Rights Council taking place in Geneva from 31 May-18 June 2010, the Council held on 4 June 2010 an interactive debate with the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standards of physical and mental health, the Independent Expert on the question of human rights and extreme poverty, and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences.
- Report calls for urgent scale-up of MSM strategies to prevent HIV in Asia Pacific
- A report on HIV among men who have sex with men and transgender people in the Asia-Pacific region has called for urgent scale-up of strategies to prevent the transmission of HIV, and to ensure greater access to treatment, care and support for those already in need.
- Punitive laws limit access to HIV prevention and care services in Asia Pacific
- More than 90 per cent of men having sex with men (MSM) in the Asia-Pacific region do not have access to HIV prevention and care services due to an adverse legal and social environment. If countries fail to address the legal context of the epidemic, this already critical situation is likely to become worse. The implementation of effective, human rights-based national HIV responses requires governments to consider the effect of laws and law enforcement practices on the health of men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender persons.
- Spotlight on human rights at the 5th Francophone Conference on AIDS
- Human rights and law will be in the spotlight at the 5th Francophone Conference on AIDS held in Casablanca, Morocco from 28 to 31 March 2010. The conference is taking place against a backdrop of continuing discrimination and human rights infringement of people living with HIV across the world. There are reports of harassment, prosecution of and violence against people living with HIV in several francophone countries.
- Universal access in the Caribbean must include men who have sex with men
- Although the Caribbean as a region has the second highest HIV prevalence after sub-Saharan Africa, most countries have concentrated epidemics which disproportionately affect certain groups including gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM). In many countries men who have sex with men experience considerable social stigma and are not reached with vital HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services. Not only are men afraid of disclosing their sexual activity, they are also deterred from finding out what they need to know to reduce their risk or to buy condoms.
- UN Human Rights Council and HIV
- UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé met with UN Human Rights Council President Ambassador Martin Uhomoibhi on 11 March. The Tenth Session of the Human Rights Council is currently taking place in Geneva.
- Power of words: Brazil LGBT launch guide for media
- The Brazilian Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transvestite and Transsexual (LGBT) Association (Associação Brasileira de Gays, Lésbicas, Bissexuais, Travestis e Transexuais or ABGLT) recently launched an “LGBT Communication Manual” aimed at communication professionals, students and teachers to reduce the use of inappropriate language that prejudices, or perpetuates misunderstandings about the millions Brazilian LGBT people and their supporters.
- Fiji first Pacific Island nation with colonial-era sodomy laws to formally to decriminalize homosexuality
- Marking a significant step towards achieving the country’s universal access goals, Fiji passed a law decriminalizing consensual homosexuality through the Fiji National Crimes Decree on 1 February 2010. With this legislation Fiji becomes the first Pacific Island nation with colonial-era sodomy laws to formally decriminalize sex between men.
- UNAIDS takes action to empower women and girls to protect themselves from HIV
- New York/Geneva, 2 March 2010 – UNAIDS, together with celebrated artist and activist for women and HIV, Annie Lennox, has launched an Agenda for Accelerated Country Action for Women, Girls, Gender Equality and HIV (2010–2014), which has been developed to address gender inequalities and human rights violations that continue to put women and girls at risk of HIV infection.
- UNAIDS, Annie Lennox, launch action framework for women, girls and HIV
- Globally, women and girls continue to be affected disproportionately by HIV. Artist and political and social activist Annie Lennox together with UNAIDS Executive Director Mr Michel Sidibé launched the Agenda for Accelerated County Action in order to bring global political attention to the well-being of women and girls today.