Today, on HIV Is Not A Crime Awareness Day, we are here to confront a grave injustice: HIV criminalisation. HIV criminalisation is not a public health tool, it is a human rights violation. It is state-sponsored stigma in its most extreme form.
We are here because people living with HIV are being jailed – even when there was no possibility of transmission – for not being able to prove they disclosed their status. We are here because women with HIV are being prosecuted for breastfeeding, simply for wanting to nourish their children. We are here because HIV criminalisation is never just about HIV.
People living with HIV are often targeted not only for their status but because of who they are, who they love, or how they survive—whether they are LGBTQ+, sex workers, migrants, or belong to other marginalised communities. HIV criminalisation is a proxy for deeper discrimination—rooted in racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and xenophobia. The harshest punishments fall on those at the intersection of multiple stigmas. That’s why our fight must be intersectional and collaborative—because justice for people living with HIV is justice for all.
Our Global HIV Criminalisation Database reveals the scale of the problem:
- 80 countries have HIV-specific criminal laws.
- 90 countries have unjustly prosecuted people living with HIV, many of them applying general criminal laws.
But there is hope. Seventeen countries have repealed or reformed their HIV laws in the past decade. Change is happening. Yet, our latest analysis – undertaken by our Policy Analyst, Elliot Hatt – shows that the Commonwealth is falling behind global law reform trends. We cannot let this continue.
18 Commonwealth countries have HIV-specific laws, with four country hot-spots – Canada, the UK, India, and Singapore – accounting for nearly 80% of prosecutions across the Commonwealth.
At the HIV Justice Network, we don’t just highlight the problems – we drive solutions. We connect and support activists. We equip communities with tools, available for free in multiple languages through the HIV Justice Academy.
And we share success stories—like Zimbabwe, where we fought to repeal HIV criminalisation in 2022 and prevented its return in 2024. We will be launching our documentary and toolkit analysing how this was possible in a webinar co-hosted with the International AIDS Society next Wednesday, March 5th. (Register here)
So you see, HIV decriminalisation is possible, even in challenging political environments.
But it takes:
- Community leadership—because change starts and ends with those most affected.
- Parliamentary action—because laws don’t change without political will.
- Global coordination—because no-one can fight this battle alone.
- Sustained funding—because without resources, progress stalls.
We are deeply grateful to the Robert Carr Fund for supporting us over the past nine years, ensuring that the fight for HIV justice has borne fruit. But let me be clear—this fight is far from over.
With the United States and the Netherlands withdrawing their support, we are especially grateful to the UK government for its unwavering support of the Fund. But we are at a crossroads. The survival of the Fund, and the HIV Justice movement – of the organisations, networks, and communities working tirelessly to end HIV criminalisation – is now at risk.
This is not just a funding gap. This is a threat to progress.
Law reform does not happen overnight. It requires sustained, long-term, and flexible funding to build the momentum needed to dismantle unjust laws and systems that have oppressed people living with HIV for decades.
Without continued investment, we risk losing the gains we’ve fought so hard for. We risk silencing the voices of those on the frontlines. We risk leaving the most vulnerable people behind, afraid to access HIV services and to live fulfilling lives in dignity.
So, thank you for your support. And thank you to those funders in the room who understand that HIV is not a crime, and that real, lasting change takes time.
Advocacy, movement-building, and legal reform are not quick wins—but they are essential. If we want to achieve HIV justice worldwide then we must ensure that this work continues. The future of the HIV response – and the lives of 40 million people – depends on it.