Presentation given at the XIX International AIDS Conference 2012, during the Symposia Session: "The Global Commission on HIV and the Law: A Movement for HIV Law Reform". Available at: http://www.hivlawcommission.org/index.php/presentations

1. Risks, Rights & Health
Creating a Movement for HIV-Law Reform:
Challenges & Opportunities
Dr Mandeep Dhaliwal, Emilie Pradichit, Vivek Divan,
Tenu Avafia, Boyan Konstantinov & Jeffrey O’Malley
HIV/AIDS Practice, UNDP

2. Key Messages

3. Key Messages
1. Epidemic of bad laws is costing lives, resulting in human
rights violations and fueling the spread of HIV.
2. Epidemic of bad laws is wasting money & limiting
effectiveness and efficiency of HIV and health investments.
3. Good laws and practices that protect human rights and build
on public health evidence already exist - they strengthen the
global AIDS response, and they must be replicated.
4. We have the science and tools to end AIDS. Bio-medical
tools and behavioural approaches alone will not be enough -
structural drivers like the law have an vital role to play.

4. HIV Law Reform
Countries are taking action to reform/enact laws which support effective,
humane and sustainable HIV responses:
• In the United States, bills against the criminalisation of HIV transmission and
exposure and on expanding sex education in schools have been introduced in
Congress.
• Finland, Norway and Denmark are reviewing public health law criminalising HIV
transmission and exposure. Guyana and Fiji have altogether rejected HIV
criminalisation as bad public health policy.
• Law review and reform is being discussed in a range of countries, including the
Cook Islands, Malawi, Moldova, Namibia, Papua New Guinea, and Ukraine.
• Strategic litigation is underway – i.e.: challenge of Jamaica’s anti-sodomy law and
forced sterilisation of women living with HIV in Namibia.

5. HIV Law Reform
Countries are taking action to reform/enact laws which support effective,
humane and sustainable HIV responses:
• Judicial sensitisation on HIV and the law is underway in the Caribbean
• Recent changes to municipal law in Chongqing, China, have resulted in the
removal of forced labour as a form of punishment for sex workers and their
clients.
• The Vietnamese National Assembly adopted a provision abolishing administrative
detention for sex workers.
• African leaders and institutions such as the Kenyan National Human Rights
Commissions are calling for the decriminalisation of sex work and homosexuality.
• The Kenya High Court has recognised that intellectual property protections
cannot take precedence over the right to health.

6. What will it take?
• Invest in evidence and rights based laws, law enforcement and access
to justice as critical enablers which increase the efficiency and
effectiveness of HIV and health investments
• Political leaders must move beyond rhetoric, challenge hypocrisy and
deliver on their human rights and HIV commitments – “all it takes is
courage” (Cardoso & Clark)
• Legislators must act on evidence and apply human rights standards
– they also have a role to play in educating their constituencies
• Invest in strengthening capacity of legal and public health institutions
• Stop state sponsored violence & community violence

7. What will it take?
• Communities and civil society must build constituencies and
coalitions for evidence and rights based law reform
• Where cultural traditions, religious doctrine and national
sovereignty result in violations human rights that hinder an
effective public health response to HIV – these must be challenged
• Challenge harmful social attitudes – working with religious leaders
and media

8. Accountability
• Countries must use the Commission’s
recommendations as a blueprint for legal reviews
and law reform (2011 Political Declaration)
• United Nations must uphold its charter and
support countries to review legal environments
(2011 Political Declaration, UNAIDS Programme
Coordinating Board, regional mechanisms)
• Civil society and communities must hold national,
regional and global stakeholders to account

9. Next Steps
Benin Afghanistan Argentina
Botswana Algeria Belize
Cameroon Bangladesh Belarus
Chad Bahrain Costa Rica
Cote d’Ivoire Bhutan Dominican Republic
Ethiopia China El Salvador
Ghana Cook Islands Guyana
Kenya Fiji Honduras
Liberia India Jamaica
Malawi Indonesia Kyrgyzstan
Mali Jordan Kazakhstan
Mozambique Malaysia Macedonia
Namibia Myanmar Moldova
Niger Nepal Nicaragua
Senegal Pakistan Panama
Sierra Leone Papua New Guinea Russia
South Africa Philippines Serbia
Swaziland Samoa Tajikistan
Tanzania Sri Lanka Trinidad & Tobago
Uganda Tunisia Turkey
Zambia Vietnam Ukraine

10. Report (EN, FR, SP & RU) &
resources available at…
• www.hivlawcommission.org