In early May 2012, a few days before the first round of national elections in Greece, the Greek police force published on its official website the mugshots of 26 people arrested under felony charges of threatening serious bodily harm. Several of them showed signs of drug abuse. Some were immigrants, most were native-born Greek citizens. But all of the people arrested and charged had two things in common: they were women and they were all HIV positive. These HIV positive women were arrested as part of a major police operation that saw almost 100 alleged female sex workers rounded up from the streets of central Athens and force-tested specifically for HIV.
A new video-documentary produced by a team of volunteer journalists from the Athens-based citizens journalism community of Radiobubble will attempt to address the issues raised in this case, issues that have been only superficially addressed and in some cases even skewed by most Greek media outlets. The video will be released in spring 2013 and will feature archive footage as well as interviews with medical and legal experts, activists, journalists, as well as with some of the major players in this ongoing drama.
