Human rights

UNAIDS urges countries to improve legal and social environments to protect human rights in the context of the HIV epidemic and reiterates its call for global freedom of movement for people living with HIV

GENEVA, 10 December 2010— As the AIDS epidemic enters its fourth decade, stigma based on HIV status remains unacceptably high across the globe. Discrimination, inequality and social exclusion based on health status, gender, sexual orientation, drug dependency, disability and migrant and refugee status, prevent people from accessing life-saving HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services.

This week, UNAIDS adopted a new five-year strategy which positioned ‘advancing human rights and gender equality’ as one of three pillars necessary to halt and reverse the spread of HIV, alongside HIV prevention and treatment. This will help realise UNAIDS’ vision of Zero new HIV infections. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS-related deaths.

The strategy tasks UNAIDS to work more intensively with countries to halve the number of countries with punitive laws by 2015; eliminate HIV-related restrictions on travel in half of the countries that continue to have them; address the specific needs of women and girls in at least half of all national HIV responses; and adopt zero tolerance for gender-based violence.

“Zero discrimination is a prerequisite to preventing new HIV infections and ensuring people who are infected have access to treatment and support services,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “This strategy will help to ensure that the response to HIV is not only effective in protecting health but also in protecting the dignity and security of people affected by HIV.”

UNAIDS remains concerned about the 49 countries, territories and areas around the world that still impose some kind of restriction on people living with HIV who seek to enter, stay or work in the country. Such restrictions are an indicator of continuing discrimination based on HIV status. Furthermore, there is no evidence that such restrictions prevent HIV transmission or protect public health.

In growing recognition of these facts, three countries during 2010—China, Namibia and the USA— removed their travel restrictions based on HIV status. India and Ecuador also issued clarifications to underline that they too no longer employ such restrictions.

On this year’s Human Rights Day, UNAIDS urges the 49 remaining countries to lift their HIV-related travel restrictions and ensure protection against HIV-related discrimination. 

GENEVA, 15 July 2010—Five United Nations agencies—UNICEF, UNFPA, WHO, UNAIDS, and UNDP—express concern that health and social workers have suffered as a result of their professional activities in the response to HIV in several countries in eastern Europe and central Asia.

Persecution, criminal investigation, arrests and sentencing of HIV activists as well as health and social workers affect not only the lives of the people involved but also discourage other activists and professionals, and deprive societies of some of the most valuable and vital resources in the response to the epidemic—people’s commitment and energy at the community level.

Health, social and outreach workers are at the front line of the response to HIV, providing critical assistance to the hundreds of thousands of people who need it. They also help countries meet their goals and obligations in the HIV response, linking government efforts with the most vulnerable to HIV—young people and populations at high risk of infection.

In several countries of eastern Europe and central Asia, health and social workers and volunteers have been prosecuted because of their professional activities—activities they felt compelled to carry out in order to save lives, as the epidemic does not wait for societies to adjust and re-examine principles and approaches.

The activities of these practitioners have been guided by scientific evidence on how best to achieve good public health outcomes. Often challenging taboos, health and social workers inform adolescents about the behaviours that lead to HIV infection, help injecting drug users through harm reduction activities, support prevention programmes for sex workers and men who have sex with men, and work in oral substitution centres for drug users or in health facilities in conditions that are far from perfect.

Eastern Europe and central Asia is the only region in the world where new HIV infections remain on the rise. The contribution of these front-line practitioners is essential in responding to the epidemic in the region. They need the support and protection of authorities, and their basic human rights must be ensured.

The UN agencies urge governments to acknowledge the critical role of health and social workers in the prevention and treatment of HIV infection and to better understand the complexity of their work. We appeal to the governments of the region to bring an end to counterproductive persecution and harassment, to discontinue procedures that hamper their work and release those who have been detained.

 
Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director and Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator launch HIV and the Law commission.
Credit: UNAIDS

Geneva, 24 June 2010 – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with the support of the UNAIDS Secretariat, launched the Global Commission on HIV and the Law today. The Commission’s aim is to increase understanding of the impact of the legal environment on national HIV responses. Its aim is to focus on how laws and law enforcement can support, rather than block, effective HIV responses.

The Global Commission on HIV and the Law brings together world-renowned public leaders from many walks of life and regions.  Experts on law, public health, human rights, and HIV will support the Commissions’ work. Commissioners will gather and share evidence about the extent of the impact of law and law enforcement on the lives of people living with HIV and those most vulnerable to HIV.  They will make recommendations on how the law can better support universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. Regional hearings, a key innovation, will provide a space in which those most directly affected by HIV-related laws can share their experiences with policy makers. This direct interaction is critical. It has long been recognized that the law is a critical part of any HIV response, whether it be formal or traditional law, law enforcement or access to justice. All of these can help determine whether people living with or affected by HIV can access services, protect themselves from HIV, and live fulfilling lives grounded in human dignity.

Nearly 30 years into the epidemic, however, there are many countries in which negative legal environments undermine HIV responses and punish, rather than protect, people in need. Where the law does not advance justice, it stalls progress. Laws that inappropriately criminalize HIV transmission or exposure can discourage people from getting tested for HIV or revealing their HIV positive status. Laws which criminalize men who have sex with men, transgender people, drug-users, and/or sex workers can make it difficult to provide essential HIV prevention or treatment services to people at high risk of HIV infection. In some countries, laws and law enforcement fail to protect women from rape inside and outside marriage – thus increasing women’s vulnerability to HIV.

At the same time, there are also many examples where the law has had a positive impact on the lives of people living with or vulnerable to HIV.  The law has protected the right to treatment, the right to be free from HIV-related discrimination in the workplace, in schools and in military services; and has protected the rights of prisoners to have access to HIV prevention services.  Where the law has guaranteed women equal inheritance and property rights, it has reduced the impact of HIV on women, children, families and communities.

With more than four million people on life-saving treatment and a seventeen per cent decrease in new infections between 2001 and 2008, there is hope that the HIV epidemic is at a turning point.  To reach country’s own universal access targets and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), persistent barriers like punitive laws and human rights violations will need to be overcome.

UNDP Administrator Helen Clark believes that the next generation of HIV responses must focus on improving legal, regulatory, and social environments to advance human rights and gender equality goals. “Some 106 countries still report having laws and policies present significant obstacles to effective HIV responses. We need environments which protect and promote the human rights of those who are most vulnerable to HIV infection and to the impact of HIV, and of those living with HIV/AIDS,” Helen Clark said.

Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director has made removing punitive laws a priority area for UNAIDS. “The time has come for the HIV response to respond to the voice of the voiceless,” he said. “We must stand shoulder to shoulder with people who are living with HIV and who are most at risk. By transforming negative legal environments, we can help tomorrow’s leaders achieve an AIDS-free generation.”

The Global Commission on HIV and the Law is being supported by a broad range of partners and stakeholders, including donors such as the Ford Foundation and AusAID. Murray Proctor, Australia’s Ambassador on HIV, expressed strong support for the Commission and the work it is tasked to do. “We commend UNDP and the UNAIDS programme for courageously taking this work forward, and we welcome the opportunity to contribute and support.”

The Commission’s work will take place over an 18 month period –mobilizing communities across the globe and promoting public dialogue on how to make the law work for an effective response to HIV. The findings and recommendations of the Commission will be announced in December 2011.

Geneva, 18 December 2009 – The Parliament of Rwanda is currently meeting to consider the Draft Penal Code of Rwanda, which contains two proposed provisions of concern to UNAIDS. One is a provision which criminalises ‘engaging in, and inciting, homosexual acts’, and the other provides for criminal penalties for sex work. UNAIDS urges Rwanda to show leadership in Africa and beyond by rejecting these punitive laws that will negatively impact the AIDS response, as well as the human rights of those affected.

UNAIDS notes the progress attained by the Republic of Rwanda as well as the commitment of national stakeholders at all levels in its response to AIDS, and salutes its regional and global leadership on AIDS. UNAIDS is concerned, however, that the above-mentioned provisions of the draft Penal Code may jeopardise the efforts of Rwanda to realise the goal of universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.

Laws that provide criminal penalties for populations at high risk of HIV infection, such as sex workers and men who have sex with men, drive these populations underground and out of reach of HIV services that protect their health and the public’s health. For this reason, the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé, has called for the removal of punitive laws, policies, practices, stigma and discrimination that act as obstacles to national AIDS responses.

“In light of commitments to attain universal access and uphold human rights in national AIDS responses, I ask countries to avoid imposing criminal sanctions on populations at risk of HIV infection. Instead I urge compassion, solidarity and pragmatism in the response to HIV - not punishment and marginalization”, Mr. Sidibe said.

UNAIDS therefore urges Rwandan Parliamentarians and all national stakeholders to sustain their positive commitment and exceptional leadership in the HIV response by rejecting the criminalisation of same sex relations and sex work and adopting a legislative framework that enables an effective response to AIDS. Such a position is consistent with the evidence-informed and rights-based Rwandan National Strategic Plan on HIV and AIDS 2009-2012 which ensures access to HIV prevention, treatment and care services for all, including sex workers and men who have sex with men.

UNAIDS reiterates its full support to the Republic of Rwanda in the pursuit of universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.

Geneva, 1 December 2009 – On World AIDS Day, as we reflect on universal access and human rights, UNAIDS calls on governments to refrain from passing criminal laws that fuel discrimination, prevent effective national responses to HIV and violate human rights.
2009 has seen some important advances in creating a legal environment conducive for HIV prevention, especially among one of the most affected groups, men who have sex with men, most notably in the Delhi High Court decision to strike down the anti-sodomy law in India.

UNAIDS calls for governments to refrain from laws that criminalize men who have sex with men, lesbians, and transgender people, as well as those that apply criminal penalties for “promotion or recognition” of such behaviour or failing to report such behaviour to the police. These laws, which are in place or are now being considered in some countries, pose a serious threat to human rights and risk to undermine effective responses to the HIV epidemic.

“The gay community has historically been at the forefront of the global AIDS response. As a social movement, the gay community changed AIDS from simply another disease to an issue of justice, dignity, security, and human rights,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “In my view, any attack on homosexuality is an attack on the all aspects of the AIDS response and a set-back to reaching universal access goals.”
 
In the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS (2001), adopted by all United Nations Member States, Governments committed to address the needs of those at risk of infection based on sexual practices. In the Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS (2006), Governments reiterated their commitment to support the full and active participation of vulnerable groups and to eliminate all forms of discrimination against them while respecting their privacy and confidentiality. All UN Member States also committed to promote a social and legal environment that is supportive of safe and voluntary disclosure of HIV status.

UNAIDS supports countries and communities to achieve these commitments as essential to reach universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support and to achieve Millennium Development Goal 6—to halt and begin to reverse the HIV epidemic by 2015.  Achieving these goals will not be possible where discrimination and criminalization continues against people living with HIV, men who have sex with men, lesbians, and transgender people. 

The human rights of people living with HIV, men who have sex with men, lesbians and transgender people must be fully respected. Where they have been able to access HIV information, prevention and treatment and avoid discrimination, these populations have become a force for health and community empowerment. Countries which protect men who have sex with men from discrimination tend to have significantly greater access to HIV prevention services than in countries where no such protection exists.

Presently 80 countries penalize homosexuality. UNAIDS calls for all governments to protect their citizens from discrimination, denial of health care, harassment, or violence based on health status or sexual orientation and gender identity.

AMSTERDAM / BALI / GENEVA / LONDON / NEW YORK, 11 August 2009 – People living with HIV and their advocates today launched a groundbreaking guidance package, “Advancing the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Human Rights of People Living with HIV”. Now, policy makers, programme managers, health professionals, donors and advocates have an important tool to better support the sexual and reproductive health and rights of people living with HIV.

With input from networks of people with HIV worldwide, the Guidance Package explains what global stakeholders in the areas of advocacy, health systems, policy making and law can do to support and advance the sexual and reproductive health of people living with HIV, and why these issues matter.

Working together legislators, the law courts, government ministries, international organizations, donors, community- and faith-based organizations, and people living with HIV can provide services and legal support that will contribute to improved sexual and reproductive health for everyone.

“From a public health perspective, decision-makers and service providers must recognize that people living with HIV do enter into relationships, have sex, and bear children,” says Dr Kevin Moody, International Coordinator and CEO of GNP+. “Ensuring that we can enjoy these normal aspects of a productive and fulfilling life is key to maintaining our own health, and that of our partners and families.”

For a person living with HIV, dealing with sex means dealing with difficult issues at vulnerable moments and in vulnerable settings. People living with HIV are expected to disclose their HIV status before engaging in sexual relations – in some countries it is even a legal obligation, even though this may lead to gender-based violence.

In order to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), sexual and reproductive health must be addressed adequately and a supportive legal framework is essential. “Stigma, discrimination and punitive laws prevent people living with HIV from accessing services and making informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive futures,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “This Guidance Package will help to ensure that the human rights of all people living with HIV, irrespective of their lifestyles, are respected and that they obtain access to the services and information they need to protect themselves and their loved ones.”

Advancing the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Human Rights of People Living with HIV is the outcome of a comprehensive, two-year process of research and analysis led by the Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+), the International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS (ICW) and Young Positives in collaboration with EngenderHealth, International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Consultations were held in Addis Ababa (March 2006), Amsterdam (December 2007) and at LIVING 2008: The Positive Leadership Summit (August 2008) prior to the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City, as well as through an interactive internet discussion forum.

Bali, 8 August 2009— Sixty legal experts, people living with HIV, and representatives from key populations in thirteen countries in the Asia and the Pacific region today called on governments to fight HIV discrimination by strengthening and expanding HIV-related legal services. The experts attended a seminar on HIV-related legal services hosted jointly by the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), Asia Pacific Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (APN+), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the United National Development Program (UNDP).

The experts also reviewed a Toolkit recently developed by IDLO, UNAIDS and UNDP to improve access to legal services in developing countries and transitional economies, one of the key gaps in the world's response to HIV. The Toolkit will assist governments and NGOs to: 1) develop proposals and submit applications to donors; and 2) initiate, expand and strengthen HIV-related legal services.

The Toolkit guidance covers legal service delivery models applicable in a range of settings for government agencies, stand-alone HIV legal organizations, community service and human rights groups, universities and private sector lawyers. It also includes a model training curricula for lawyers and paralegals, monitoring and evaluation of programs and resource mobilization strategies.

"Experience in the AIDS response has shown that access to legal services is an important part of guaranteeing protection from discrimination, getting redress for human rights violations and expanding access to HIV prevention and treatment," said David Patterson, Manager of IDLO's HIV and Health Law Programme. "However, such programmes are not sufficiently supported by national AIDS responses, and where they do exist, quality and scale are often insufficient."

People living with or affected by HIV often require practical assistance to maintain adequate housing, keep child custody, enforce property and inheritance rights, or access health care, education or employment without discrimination. Access to legal services is even more important in punitive legal environments. An increasing number of countries are passing overly broad laws to criminalize HIV transmission. Men who have sex with men, sex workers and people who use drugs face criminal sanctions in many countries, blocking access to HIV services and heightening HIV vulnerability.

“UNAIDS advocates that access to justice must be a basic, programmatic component of the movement for universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support,” said Susan Timberlake, Senior Human Rights and Law Adviser, UNAIDS. “The persistent reality of discrimination, whether due to HIV status, gender or social status, means that legal services are a critical and necessary part of a comprehensive response to the epidemic.”

No “one size fits all” for legal services

Legal services in the context of HIV take many forms. These include: legal information and advice, including through telephone hotlines; formal litigation, including strategic litigation to create legal policy; mediation and other forms of dispute resolution; assistance with informal or traditional legal systems (e.g. village courts); and community legal education. Legal service providers are not always lawyers. They may be paralegals, volunteers, students or peer educators. Such services are provided in a range of settings, including HIV treatment and counseling centers, mainstream legal aid centers, as well as prisons and community settings. Work may also be linked to advocacy for law reform.

According to Jeff O’Malley, Director, HIV/AIDS Group, UNDP, “the rationale for supporting HIV legal services rests on two related arguments. One, they are essential to improving access to justice and a key means to protect the human rights of socially marginalized and vulnerable populations. Two, they are essential as a means to ensure optimal HIV, health and development outcomes, all of which are underpinned by the realization of rights.”

“One of our goals is to support countries to recognize how important legal services can be to the achievement of universal access and MDG 6, and then work with them to develop a strategy to scale up these services,” explained O’Malley. “Existing HIV-related legal services are generally small in scale and patchy in coverage. With high levels of ‘legal’ marginalization of key populations, the achievement of universal access to prevention, treatment, care and support demands a commitment to strengthening legal protection and access to HIV-related legal services.”

“There are extraordinary examples of great work being done to provide legal services," said Patterson. "It is imperative that legal services are taken to scale with the same urgency that we seek to provide treatment.”

The seminar included participants from Australia, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. The seminar took place prior to the International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific. The Congress is due to be opened on Sunday, 9 August, by the President of the Republic of Indonesia, H.E. Hj. DR. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Financial support for the seminar was provided by AusAID and OFID.

APN+ is the network of people living with HIV and AIDS in the Asia Pacific region. It was established in 1994 at a meeting in Kuala Lumpur by 42 people living with HIV and AIDS (PLHIV) from eight countries in response to the need for a collective voice for PLHIV in the region, to better link regional PLHIV with the Global Network of PLHIV (GNP+) and positive networks throughout the world, and to support regional responses to widespread stigma and discrimination and better access to treatment and care. APN+ is now celebrating its 15 year anniversary with members from 28 countries from across the Asia Pacific Region and maintains a Secretariat Office in Bangkok which coordinates a growing number of regional PLHIV focused projects. www.apnplus.org

AusAID is the Australian Government agency responsible for managing Australia's overseas aid program. The objective of the aid program is to assist developing countries reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development, in line with Australia's national interest. Additional financial support for this seminar was granted through AusAID’s International Seminar Support Scheme (ISSS). The ISSS funds attendance at international development-oriented seminars in Australia and overseas. The scheme helps to develop knowledge and technical expertise in developing countries, and builds linkages between the government, academic and community sectors in Australia and our partner developing countries. www.ausaid.gov.au  

IDLO is a non-partisan, intergovernmental organization that promotes legal, regulatory and institutional reform to advance economic and social development in transitional and developing countries. Founded in 1983 and one of the pioneers of rule of law assistance, IDLO uses its access to governments and interest groups of differing ideologies, as well as its expertise and vast stakeholder network, to create opportunity for those most in need. www.idlo.int

OFID is the development finance institution of OPEC Member States, established to provide financial support for socio-economic development, particularly in low income countries. In Asia Pacific, OFID supports IDLO programs on HIV and law in China, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. www.ofid.org  

UNAIDS is an innovative joint venture of the United Nations, bringing together the efforts and resources of the UNAIDS Secretariat and ten UN system organizations in the AIDS response. The Secretariat headquarters is in Geneva, Switzerland—with staff on the ground in more than 80 countries. The Cosponsors include UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank. Contributing to achieving global commitments to universal access to comprehensive interventions for HIV prevention, treatment, care and support is the number one priority for UNAIDS. Visit the UNAIDS website at www.unaids.org  

UNDP is the UN’s global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground in 166 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges. As they develop local capacity, they draw on the people of UNDP and our wide range of partners. www.undp.org  

NEW YORK, 16 June 2009 – Ahead of this year’s World AIDS Day, the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the World AIDS Campaign and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) have come together to announce the theme of ‘Universal Access and Human Rights’.

The theme has been chosen to address the critical need to protect human rights and attain access for all to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. It also acts as a call to countries to remove laws that discriminate against people living with HIV, women and marginalized groups. Countries are also urged to realise the many commitments they made to protect human rights in the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS (2001) and the Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS (2006).

Speaking ahead of the announcement at the United Nations in New York, Michel Sidibé Executive Director of UNAIDS said, "Achieving universal access to prevention, treatment, care and support is a human rights imperative. It is essential that the global response to the AIDS epidemic is grounded in human rights and that discrimination and punitive laws against those most affected by HIV are removed.”

Many countries still have laws and policies that impede access to HIV services and criminalize those most vulnerable to HIV. These include laws that criminalize men who have sex with men, trangendered people and lesbians; laws that criminalize sex workers; and laws criminalizing people who use drugs and the harm reduction measures and substitution therapy they need. Some 84 countries have reported that they have laws and policies that act as obstacles to effective HIV prevention, treatment, care and support for vulnerable populations.

Speaking from Cape Town, South Africa, The World AIDS Campaign Executive Director Marcel van Soest said, “The epidemic has not gone away, tens of millions of people are still affected, but those hit the hardest, the poor and marginalised in society often don’t have a say when big decisions and laws are made. Their fundamental right to essential health care and life free from fear of stigma and discrimination must be strengthened.”

Governments continue to pass and enforce overly-broad laws that criminalize the transmission of HIV which are in direct contradiction to their commitments to “promote…. a social and legal environment that is supportive of safe and voluntary disclosure of HIV status.” Some 59 countries still have laws that restrict the entry, stay and residence of people living with HIV based on their positive HIV status only, discriminating against them in their freedom of movement and right to work.

At the same time, laws and regulations protecting people with HIV from discrimination and women from gender inequality and sexual violence are not fully implemented or enforced.

The organisation’s Chairperson, Allyson Leacock added, “The Human Rights theme is about us, about communities, about people like you and me and our governments making a commitment to honour and respect the dignity of the vulnerable and to those already living with HIV.”

SENEGAL/GENEVA, 20 April 2009 – UNAIDS welcomes the decision by Dakar’s court of appeal to release nine members of a Senegalese AIDS awareness organization, imprisoned since December 2008.

The men were sentenced in January 2009 for what the Senegalese courts termed as ‘acts against nature and the creation of an association of criminals’.

The announcement to release the men came further to an appeal supported by civil society organizations, the public sector and partners including UNAIDS, UNDP, the French Embassy and the Swedish Embassy representing the European Union, which had been working towards securing the release of the detainees since their incarceration last year.

UNAIDS had strongly urged all governments to take steps to eliminate stigma and discrimination faced by men who have sex with men and create a social and legal environment that ensures respect for human rights.

“Homophobia and criminalization based on a person’s sexual orientation is fuelling the AIDS epidemic,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “I welcome today’s decision by the court of appeal to release these men. We urge Senegal to take steps to remove such laws that block the AIDS response.”

The rights of men who have sex with men need to be protected and stigma and discrimination addressed by amending laws that prohibit sexual acts between consenting adults in private; enforcing anti-discrimination; providing legal aid services; and promoting campaigns that address homophobia. Failure to do so will jeopardize countries abilities to achieve their goals of universal access by 2010.

Geneva, 27 November 2008— Criminalization of adult sexual behaviour and violation of human rights of people living with HIV are hampering HIV responses across the world. UNAIDS urges countries to remove laws and policies make it difficult for people to access HIV prevention and treatment and adopt laws that protect people living with HIV from discrimination, coercion and monitoring in their private lives.

Recently, a number of countries and local bodies are considering a range of legal measures such as making homosexuality a crime, using technology to trace movements of people living with HIV, and mandatory HIV testing and forced rehabilitation of sex workers and people who are addicted to drugs. Such measures have a negative impact on delivery of HIV prevention programmes and access to treatment by people living with HIV. Not only do they violate human rights of individuals, but further stigmatize these populations.

"Homophobia - in all its forms - is one of the top five barriers to ending this epidemic, worldwide,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Dr Peter Piot. “If communities, NGOs, governments and international organizations do not respect and promote the rights of all people with diverse sexuality, we will not end AIDS."

All forms of restrictions on people living with HIV, whether it is limiting their ability to travel, monitoring their movements or criminalizing transmission of HIV, are not based on sound public health practices. It can alienate people living with HIV from society and facilitate further transmission of HIV.

Laws that reduce stigma and discrimination, protect privacy, and promote gender and sexual equality help save lives. Only 26% countries report having laws that protect men who have sex with men. Currently 84 countries in the world have legislation that prohibits same sex behaviour. In the 2006 political declaration on HIV/AIDS, governments committed to removing these legal barriers and passing laws to protect vulnerable populations. Countries that have non-discrimination laws against men who have sex with men, injecting drug users and sex workers have achieved higher rates of coverage of HIV prevention efforts.

Contact UNAIDS: Mallory Smuts | +41 22 7911697, email: smutsm@unaids.org

About UNAIDS

UNAIDS is an innovative joint venture of the United Nations, bringing together the efforts and resources of the UNAIDS Secretariat and ten UN system organizations in the AIDS response. The Secretariat headquarters is in Geneva, Switzerland—with staff on the ground in more than 80 countries. Coherent action on AIDS by the UN system is coordinated in countries through UN theme groups, and joint programmes on AIDS. UNAIDS’ Cosponsors include UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank. Visit the UNAIDS Web site at www.unaids.org