HIV Justice Network
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The HIV Justice Network is a global information and advocacy hub for individuals and organisations working to end the inappropriate use of the criminal law to regulate and punish people living with HIV.
HIV Justice Network
2d ago
Translated via Deep.com – Scroll down for article in Portuguese
The Bill seeks to increase the penalty by up to two-thirds in cases involving marital relations
A bill presented by Mato Grosso do Sul Congressman Geraldo Resende (PSDB) is currently before the Chamber of Deputies in Brasilia, increasing the prison sentence for people who intentionally transmit HIV in marital relations.
The congressman’s proposal increases the penalty from one to two thirds if the exposure to contamination is carried out by the victim’s spouse or partner. Resende points out in the proposal that the intentional tra ..read more
HIV Justice Network
4d ago
HARRISBURG – March 21, 2023 – State Senator Vincent Hughes and Representatives Benjamin Waxman and Malcolm Kenyatta announced legislation on March 20, 2024 that will repeal Pennsylvania’s felony sentencing enhancement for people living with HIV who are charged with prostitution.
Removing the felony charge removes the last relic of HIV criminalization laws in Pennsylvania, one of nine states still subjecting people living with HIV to harsher penalties if charged with prostitution. In recent years other states including Georgia, Nevada, and California have modernized or repealed their prostituti ..read more
HIV Justice Network
1w ago
State lawmakers moving to repeal law that stigmatizes people living with HIV, increases public health risk
Having a virus should not be a crime. Yet, in Maryland, people living with HIV can face prosecution and criminal penalties even when we have disclosed our status, used condoms or are virally suppressed through medication. Maryland has an outdated law from 1989 that makes it a misdemeanor for a person living with HIV who is aware of their HIV-positive status to “knowingly transfer or attempt to transfer” HIV to another person. A conviction under this law can carry a punishment of up to ..read more
HIV Justice Network
1w ago
By Stu Johnson
HIV/AIDS is a disease that continues to affect thousands of people across the Commonwealth. It’s an issue getting attention in Frankfort as lawmakers consider legislation tied to the transmission of HIV. The focus is on decriminalization.
The AIDS epidemic came about more than 4 decades ago. Since that time, a great deal has changed regarding how the disease is managed, which in the early 1980’s was deadly. There are laws tied to the illness that are being updated. Kentucky lawmakers are taking up a bill that makes intentional transmission of HIV/AIDS a Class A misdemeanor. It’s ..read more
HIV Justice Network
2w ago
On Tuesday 5th March the HIV Justice Network hosted a reception with the All Party Parliamentary Group for HIV and AIDS (APPGA) to mark the first global HIV Is Not A Crime Awareness Day.
Baroness Barker, co-chair of the APPGA, Lisa Power former Policy Director at the Terrence Higgins Trust and the first chair of the HIV Justice Network’s Supervisory Board, spoke alongside our Executive Director, Edwin J Bernard. The SERO Project’s, Kerry Thomas, an HIV criminalisation survivor, appeared via video.
The event was attended by MPs and members of the House of Lords, as well as representatives ..read more
HIV Justice Network
3w ago
Translated from Spanish with Deepl.com – Scroll down for original article
Activists and defenders of the human rights of people living with HIV have urged the Congress of Tlaxcala to pass an initiative to eliminate the crime of “danger of contagion” from the local Penal Code as soon as possible.
Antonio Escobar Muñoz, director of the HIV and Human Rights programme of the LGBTTTQI+ collective, argued that it is essential to eliminate any discriminatory treatment based on health status.
According to the activist, cases of discrimination and stigmatisation based on health status persist in Tlaxca ..read more
HIV Justice Network
3w ago
Translated with Deep.com – Scroll down for original article in Spanish
With just 15 votes in favour from Morena deputies and their allies from the New Alliance Party, Labour Party, and the now non-party deputy Rigoberto García Negrete, the State Congress repealed the criminal offence known as “Danger of Contagion”, which criminalised people infected with the HIV virus.
This action was carried out following the presentation of the opinion on the Bill with draft Decree, proposed by Deputy Alfredo Álvarez Ramírez, to reform Articles 77 and 119, and repeal Chapter I of the Seventh Title and Articl ..read more
HIV Justice Network
3w ago
Across the country, a growing coalition of advocates is pushing to repeal or update state laws that criminalize people living with HIV or AIDS.
In Ohio, six laws on the books either criminalize certain acts – including sex – for people living with HIV or substantially increase sentences for them compared to people who do not have the virus.
Most of the laws were passed decades ago, fueled by fear, absent scientific understanding about how HIV is transmitted and before advancements in HIV-related treatment were widely introduced. Laws still remain in place in 34 states.
There are no national re ..read more
HIV Justice Network
1M ago
Download this statement as a pdf
This year, on February 28th, the HIV JUSTICE WORLDWIDE coalition commemorate HIV is Not A Crime Awareness Day as a Global Awareness Day for the first time, under the theme: “You care about ending HIV criminalisation, you just don’t know it yet”. We invite you to stand with us in solidarity and action as we strive to eliminate the unjust criminalisation of people based on their HIV-positive status.
HIV Is Not A Crime Awareness Day was launched in the United States two years ago by HIVJUSTICE WORLDWIDE founding partner, the SERO Project, in collaboration with the ..read more
HIV Justice Network
1M ago
By Katie Riordan
State lawmakers have voted to no longer require sex offender registration for someone convicted under the state’s decades-old aggravated prostitution law, which only affects sex workers who are HIV positive. The legislation also allows those on the registry for the offense to have their names removed.
The measure overwhelmingly passed the state house on Thursday with bipartisan support after clearing the senate earlier this month.
The vote takes place as the Department of Justice and advocacy groups have sued Tennessee over enforcement its aggravated prostitution statute. The ..read more