Senegal: Arrests and breach of medical confidentiality trigger drop in HIV testing and treatment attendance

“Violation of medical confidentiality”: in Senegal, caregivers worried about allegations against homosexuals with HIV

In Senegal, people have been incriminated for their homosexuality and accused of HIV transmission. These arrests follow the announcement by Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko of the tightening of the law penalizing “unnatural acts”. Since these arrests, the actors in the fight against AIDS have seen a decrease in attendance at screening centers.

“Arrest for homosexuality: serious cases of unnatural acts with voluntary transmission of HIV/AIDS,” headlined the Senegalese daily Les Échos, on February 9. About thirty people have been accused of transmitting HIV and incriminated for their homosexuality, which is prohibited by law. The Senegalese government has just toughened this legislation on February 24. These arrests frighten patients with the virus, who no longer go to the Dakar screening center.

“Patients are afraid of being arrested and stigmatized,” explains Dr. Rassoul Diouf, at Fane Hospital, one of Senegal’s main health centers. Usually, this facility welcomes dozens of patients daily for HIV testing and monitoring. But in recent weeks, Dr. Rassoul Diouf has seen a significant drop in consultations.”The convocations for appointments are difficult to happen. We call them but there is reluctance,” he explains to TV5MONDE.

Breach of medical confidentiality

For the actors in the fight against AIDS, this disclosure constitutes a “violation of medical confidentiality“. The National AIDS Council recalls that a law in Senegal protects the identity of people with HIV.

“On an ethical level, this is not normal, but even less on a legal level,” says Dr. Safiatou Thiam, executive secretary of the National Council for the fight against AIDS. “HIV has the particularity of being framed by a law that prohibits the disclosure of people’s status. We do not know how or by what process medical results ended up in the public square,” she explains to TV5MONDE.

Misinformation and confusion about HIV transmission

Actors in the fight against AIDS also deplore confusion about the modes of transmission of the virus. However, Senegal has long been cited as an example for the means put in place to fight HIV. Since the end of the 1990s, the country made treatments accessible. “At the beginning of the epidemic [of HIV, ed.], many countries refused to recognize its existence. But Senegal said: not only does HIV exist, but I will treat it,” explains Dr. Khoudia Sow, doctor and anthropologist.

“When a person follows his treatment properly, he becomes undetectable and can no longer transmit the virus. On the other hand, if these people interrupt their treatment for fear of stigmatization, the risk is that in the short term new transmissions will appear,” she confides. Currently, the HIV prevalence rate in Senegal is estimated at 0.3%, one of the lowest in the region. However, if patients stop taking their treatment, for fear of stigma, this rate could increase in Senegal.

US: HIV criminalisation laws expose Black Americans to disproportionate arrest and prosecution rates

“Look at who’s in political control”: How HIV disclosure laws are steeped in racial bias

HIV criminalization arose in an atmosphere of fearful ignorance, disproportionately harming Black men. But activists are fighting back.

Today, 32 states have laws that criminalize people living with HIV (PLWH). These laws expose PLWH to the risk of prosecution and incarceration for engaging in consensual sexual activity while not disclosing their status. Of those states, 28 enhance criminal penalties based on an individual’s knowledge of their HIV status. In many of these states, arrests and convictions due to HIV criminalization disproportionately impact Black populations, because HIV disproportionately impacts Black populations.

A new study of 16 states by the Williams Institute shows Black Americans are more likely than any other race to be arrested and convicted for HIV-related allegations, and were arrested for HIV-related crimes at higher rates than their overall share of the population. In 64% of the states analyzed, Black Americans faced higher rates of arrest than their share of PLWH in the state. In 75% of the states, Black Americans were convicted at higher rates than their share of PLWH in the state.

Legislation criminalizing the transmission of HIV started in the 1980s, in response to events largely fueled by fear that the AIDS epidemic — which at the time was perceived as gay men’s disease, and was originally called Gay Related Immunodeficiency Syndrome (GRID) — would spread to heterosexuals. In 1987, Ronald Reagan’s Presidential Commission on the HIV Epidemic recommended that states adopt HIV-specific laws in response to rising infection rates among gay men, based on the belief that existing assault laws were too lenient to serve as a deterrent.

In 1990, the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resource Emergency (CARE) Act was enacted, providing funding to states on the condition that their criminal laws addressed intentional HIV exposure and transmission.

Subsequently, flurries of punitive legislation arose amid highly publicized, sensationalized cases involving young Black men, such as that of Nushawn Williams in the late 1990s. Accused of having sex with younger women while HIV-positive, Williams pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment and statutory rape and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. He remains imprisoned after serving his sentence because the New York attorney general initiated involuntary civil commitment proceedings against him just days before his release.

“Available research confirms what we knew back then — criminal laws do not reduce HIV transmission or the behavior that causes it,” says Catherine Hanssens, the founding executive director of The Center for HIV Law and Policy.

Robert Suttle, an HIV criminalization policy expert, tells LGBTQ Nation that these laws became more about control than prevention. “HIV criminalization became a proxy to control certain populations — queer people, sex workers — especially to stop people diagnosed with HIV from having sex,” says Sutter. “It’s never worked.”

Indeed, recent studies have found that HIV criminalization laws have “no detectable prevention effect.”

Not only do HIV criminalization laws, conceived at a time when an HIV diagnosis was essentially considered a death sentence, fail as preventative measures, but they also eliminate burdens of proof and intent to do harm, which are required under criminal law.

Most of these laws only require simple exposure with the failure to disclose HIV status. Most state laws don’t require evidence of transmission or intent to harm. Several target interactions in which spit and other bodily fluids come into contact with law enforcement, correctional employees, and first responders, criminalizing behavior that has no chance of transmitting HIV.

Again, these laws — which have stood for decades — reflect a time when little was known about how HIV was spread, and a diagnosis was considered fatal.

Black bodies on trial: The case of “Tiger Mandingo”

The case of Michael Johnson, also known by his screen name “Tiger Mandingo,” illustrates many of the problems with HIV-criminalization laws and how they intersect with the historic policing of Black Americans.

Johnson, a Black gay wrestler at Linwood University in St. Charles, Missouri, was arrested in 2013 for not disclosing his HIV-positive status to six former male sex partners, four of whom were white. At the time, Missouri’s law required PLWH to inform their partners of their status, regardless of safe-sex practices. The law did not require intent to transmit or actual transmission of HIV, but only that a person was aware of their status and unable to prove that they informed their partners before engaging in sex.

Johnson faced a stacked deck before his trial even started. Of the 51 potential jurors, only one was non-white. Half said they believed being gay was a choice, and two-thirds believed it was a sin. All were straight, HIV-negative, and believed that PLWH who do not disclose to their partners deserved to be prosecuted. The final jury consisted of four white men, seven white women, and one retired Black nurse. Most of the jurors appeared to be in their 50s or 60s.

Several discrepancies arose during Johnson’s trial. Johnson maintained that he disclosed his status and that all of his partners engaged in consensual sex without condoms. Each of his partners testified that they’d asked if he was “clean” or STD-free, and that he’d assured them that he was. This contradicted what they initially told police. But the jury never heard of these discrepancies, either because his defense attorney failed to raise them or because she was overruled when she did.

Telling people that they are a potential criminal based only on a diagnosed health condition is harmful, particularly to people who have been told for centuries that they are not worthy of equal treatment under the law based on race, sexual orientation, or gender identity.”

Catherine Hanssens, executive director of The Center for HIV Law and Policy.

One partner testified that Johnson had actually infected him, but told the police he’d told Johnson he was HIV-positive when he met him. No genetic evidence linked Johnson’s strain of HIV to the virus in the other men, suggesting that they may have contracted it from someone else.

The prosecution employed stereotypical tropes. Images of Johnson’s penis — from a sex video made with one of his partners — were shown to the nearly all-white, all heterosexual, HIV-negative jury, literally criminalizing his “contagious” Black body, and reducing him to his sex organ, described in graphic, lurid detail in police reports and on the witness stand as “very large” and “too tight” for condoms.

In 2015, the jury sentenced him to 30 years for transmitting HIV without disclosure to six former sexual partners, and 30.5 years for exposing four others without disclosure, for a total of 60.5 years — a longer sentence than many convicted of involuntary manslaughter. The judge ultimately reduced the sentence to 30 years.

However, Johnson served only a fraction of his sentence. His conviction was overturned in December 2016 due to egregious prosecutorial misconduct. Johnson accepted a plea deal and was released from prison on July 7, 2019.

In 2021, Missouri reformed its HIV-criminalization law, downgrading “reckless exposure” of someone to HIV from a Class B felony to a Class D felony. Moving away from the AIDS panic of the 1980s, the law applies to all “serious infections and communicable diseases,” instead of singling out HIV. Prosecutors must now prove someone “knowingly” exposed someone to HIV.

Policing Black bodies in a culture of fear

While HIV criminalization laws were originally targeted at gay men, they represent a small number of actual arrests.

“Based on the best data available, women of color who are sex workers and Black men targeted by police or those currently incarcerated make up most of the arrests and convictions,” Hanssen says.

Hanssen also describes how HIV criminalization laws don’t necessarily impact transmission, but may discourage vulnerable communities from accessing essential resources. “As I’ve suggested, laws based on myths and misconceptions surrounding HIV will perpetuate HIV stigma,” Hanssen said.

HIV-related stigma creates real obstacles for PLWH. The behaviors often associated with acquiring HIV — such as being gay or using intravenous drugs — are still stigmatized, and confirming or disclosing one’s HIV status is still widely perceived as socially dangerous. HIV-related stigma can discourage testing and prevention practices. Individuals may fear confirming their HIV status, let alone accessing education about transmission and prevention. HIV criminalization laws increase those fears.

“But look at who’s in political control — and who controls public health and the legal system. Those systems get off the hook by shifting blame to individuals. Instead of investing money into prevention, education, and awareness, they criminalize people.”

Robert Suttle, an HIV criminalization policy expert

“Telling a newly diagnosed person they will be prosecuted as a felon if they expose another person to HIV may not discourage them from having sex,” she said, “but it might discourage them from entering and staying in health care, particularly when medical mistrust is already so high among the vulnerable populations targeted by these laws.”

This is especially true for Black Americans, among whom medical mistrust may be a deeply rooted reaction to historical exploitation by incidents like the Tuskegee experiment and ongoing systemic racism.

Suttle explains how these laws cause particular harm to Black LGBTQ+ people by creating a culture of fear. “Is the public health system or legal system helping the people they claim to protect?” he asks, “The evidence shows they’re doing more harm than good.”

“For Black people — especially Black LGBTQ+ people — HIV isn’t just a medical condition,” he says. “It’s shaped by laws, policies, and institutions that operate from a culture of fear rather than science, and from control rather than care.”

Hanssen echoes Suttle, saying, “Telling people that they are a potential criminal based only on a diagnosed health condition is harmful, particularly to people who have been told for centuries that they are not worthy of equal treatment under the law based on race, sexual orientation, or gender identity.”

“There is now plenty of evidence demonstrating how HIV criminal laws increase stigma,” says Catherine Hanssens. “These laws create a uniquely harmful, un-American legal standard and produce felony penalties rooted in lack of knowledge about HIV transmission – that alone is enough to demand their repeal.”

Reforms vs. real change

Thanks to the work of state-based organizations like Free State Justice in Maryland, Equality California, and Washington State’s HIV Justice Network, so far, eight states have taken steps to reform their HIV criminalization laws, though not all have repealed them.

California and Washington State have made the biggest changes. Now, both states require proof that someone intended to transmit HIV or actually did so before they can be convicted. They have also removed most laws that made exposure to HIV or other diseases a crime, except in some cases involving sex offenders. Intentional transmission is now a misdemeanor in California, with a maximum sentence of six months, or in Washington State, 30 days.

By comparison:

North Carolina still connects criminal liability to viral load and engagement in care.
Iowa eliminated its sex offender registry requirement and tightened up intent requirements, but added “recklessness” as a standard for liability.
Virginia reformed its bill, but retains felony-level offenses.

Beyond reforms to state laws, Suttle suggests a paradigm shift away from focusing on individuals and toward the legal and justice systems is necessary for effective change.

“In an individualistic society, if HIV is happening, it’s treated like we [PLWH] caused it,” he says. “But no single individual can cause an epidemic. Instead of addressing external factors — poverty, lack of education, lack of access to healthcare — systems punish individuals. Those conditions are by design, not because people ‘created’ HIV.”

“But look at who’s in political control — and who controls public health and the legal system. Those systems get off the hook by shifting blame to individuals. Instead of investing money into prevention, education, and awareness, they criminalize people.”

“For Black LGBTQ communities, this is a matter of survival,” Suttle says. “HIV in America today isn’t simply defined by medicine. It’s defined by whether laws and institutions will catch up with science, provide equity, and understand the reality we’re living in.”

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Terrance Heath is a longtime LGBT equality activist, writer, and award winning blogger. He lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland, with his two sons.

Senegal: Media frenzy meets CNLS reality check in alleged homosexuals prosecution

The CNLS warns of an offence that is difficult to substantiate

In the case known as the ‘alleged homosexuals’ case, the classification of deliberate transmission of HIV/AIDS is the subject of heated debate. However, according to a note from the National Council for the Fight against AIDS (CNLS), this offence remains one of the most complex to prove in law.

The offence of ‘deliberate transmission of HIV/AIDS’ introduces a demanding scientific dimension to the case of the ‘alleged homosexuals’. They are being prosecuted for ‘unnatural acts, criminal association, money laundering and drug trafficking’. According to the National Council for the Fight against AIDS (CNLS), the justice system must rely on precise, consistent and solidly established evidence. In a note, the entity headed by Dr Safiatou Thiam states that ‘proof of voluntary transmission of HIV is difficult’. The CNLS notes that it ‘is a particularly complex process, involving legal, scientific and medico-legal aspects’.

The 2010 Senegalese law on HIV provides for penalties against any person who, knowing that they are HIV-positive, deliberately exposes others to the risk of infection.

However, ‘the establishment of this offence is based on the cumulative evidence of several factors,’ the note specifies. The first essential element is knowledge of one’s HIV status. “It must be proven that the accused knew they were HIV-positive at the time of the offence.

Without this prior knowledge, intent or gross negligence cannot be established,” emphasises the CNLS. The second requirement is proof of risky behaviour. Thus, the analysis is not limited to the statements of the parties. ‘The risk assessment also takes into account the therapeutic situation (ARV treatment, undetectable viral load or not),’ states the text. This clarification is important because a person undergoing effective treatment, with an undetectable viral load, ‘does not transmit HIV through sexual contact (U=U: undetectable = untransmittable)’.

From a scientific point of view, proving the causal link is just as delicate. “It is not enough for two people to be living with HIV. It must be demonstrated that the transmission did indeed come from the person being prosecuted,” adds the CNLS. Moreover, the body maintains that phylogenicetic analyses have their limitations: ‘However, even in cases of high genetic proximity, this analysis alone does not prove direct transmission or the exact chronology of events.’ Finally, the element of intent remains central. ‘To qualify as deliberate transmission in the criminal sense, it must be proven that there was either a deliberate intention to transmit the virus or an awareness of the risk associated with accepting it,’ explains the CNLS.

Dans l’affaire dite des « présumés homosexuels », la qualification de transmission volontaire du Vih/Sida suscite de vifs débats. Pourtant, selon une note du Conseil national de lutte contre le Sida (Cnls), cette infraction demeure l’une des plus complexes à prouver en droit.

L’infraction « transmission volontaire du Vih/Sida » introduit une dimension scientifique exigeante dans l’affaire des « présumés homosexuels ». Ils sont poursuivis pour « actes contre nature, association de malfaiteurs, blanchiment de capitaux et trafic de drogue ». Selon le Conseil national de lutte contre le Sida (Cnls), la justice devra s’appuyer sur des preuves précises, concordantes et solidement établies. Dans une note, l’entité dirigée par le Dr Safiatou Thiam renseigne que la « preuve de la transmission volontaire du Vih est difficile ». Le Cnls relève, en effet, qu’elle « constitue une démarche particulièrement complexe, à la fois juridique, scientifique et médico-légale ». La loi sénégalaise de 2010 relative au

Vih prévoit des sanctions contre toute personne qui, en connaissance de sa séropositivité, expose délibérément autrui à un risque de contamination. Mais, « l’établissement de cette infraction repose sur la réunion cumulative de plusieurs éléments probants », précise la note. Le premier élément indispensable est la connaissance du statut sérologique. « Il doit être démontré que la personne mise en cause savait qu’elle était séropositive au moment des faits. Sans cette connaissance préalable, l’intention ou la faute caractérisée ne peut être retenue », souligne le Cnls. Deuxième exigence : la preuve d’un comportement à risque. Ainsi, l’analyse ne se limite pas aux déclarations des parties. « L’évaluation du risque tient aussi compte de la situation thérapeutique (prise d’Arv, charge virale indétectable ou non) », énonce le texte. Cette précision est majeure, car une personne sous traitement efficace, avec une charge virale indétectable, « ne transmet pas le Vih par voie sexuelle (i = i : indétectable = intransmissible) ».

Sur le plan scientifique, la démonstration du lien de causalité est tout aussi délicate. « Il ne suffit pas que deux personnes vivent avec le Vih. Il faut démontrer que la transmission provient bien de la personne poursuivie », ajoute le Cnls. D’ailleurs, soutient l’organe, les analyses phylogénétiques ont leurs limites : « Toutefois, même en cas de forte proximité génétique, cette analyse ne prouve pas à elle seule la transmission directe ni la chronologie exacte des faits ». Enfin, l’élément intentionnel reste central. « Pour qualifier la transmission volontaire au sens pénal, il faut prouver soit la volonté délibérée de transmettre le virus, soit la conscience du risque associée à son acceptation », explique le Cnls.

Senegal: Following recent arrests, the National AIDS council calls for an approach based on science and human rights

The CNLS warns against judicial and social excesses

The executive secretariat of the National Council for the fight against AIDS (CnLS) published yesterday a technical note warning of the health, legal and social consequences of recent arrests for “unnatural acts” and transmission of HIV.

The executive secretariat of the National Council for the Fight against AIDS (CNLS) published yesterday a technical note warning of the health, legal and social consequences of recent arrests for “unnatural acts” and transmission of HIV. The institution fears a decline in screening, a break in treatments and a rise in stigma, calling on the authorities to favour an approach based on science, public health and respect for human rights.

“Health, legal and social impact of the arrest of people for unnatural acts and voluntary transmission of HIV”. This is the title of the technical note published yesterday by the National Council for the Fight against AIDS (CNLS), which proposes an in-depth analysis of the potentially disastrous consequences of mismanagement of news related to HIV transmission.

According to the CNLS, the country has a concentrated HIV epidemic, characterized by a low prevalence in the general population (0.3%) and a high prevalence within some key groups: 27% in men having sex with men, 6.4% in women sex workers, 5.2% in drug users and 2% in detainees. Faced with this situation, they maintain that the national response is based on equitable access to screening, prevention means and universal antiretroviral treatment.

According to them, these approaches have reduced new infections, improved the quality of life of people living with HIV and limited transmission in the general population. However, the CNLS believes that the high media coverage of the arrests of twelve (12) people has aroused a strong reaction from public opinion and rekindled tensions around sexuality, HIV and human rights, raising major health, legal and social issues.

Blow for early screening and continuity of care

First, in terms of health, the CNLS fears that legal proceedings or the disclosure of serological status will dissuade some people, especially from the most vulnerable groups, from voluntarily using screening. “This reluctance limits the early detection of people living with HIV and their rapid access to treatment, which is essential to interrupt transmission. Nearly 90% of people with HIV are tested to date and under treatment and 92% of them no longer transmit the disease,” reads the technical note published by the CNLS.

Worse, it says, the continuity of care is also threatened. Indeed, it is noted, for fear of stigma or public exposure, some people living with HIV can discontinue their antiretroviral treatment. “These ruptures increase the risk of medical complications, resistance to treatments and transmission of the virus, with a direct impact on national health indicators,” says the CNLS. It is also established that when the possession of condoms, the use of screening or adherence to treatment are perceived as burdens in legal proceedings, it constitutes a major risk to public health.

The CNLS thus draws attention to the fact that this situation discourages prevention behaviour and promotes silent circulation of the virus, increasing the number of people unaware of their serological status and the risks of transmission among the general population.

“Unauthorised disclosure of serological status is penalised by the HIV law of 2010…”

With regard to the legal issues of arrests for unnatural acts and transmission of HIV, the CNLS recalls at first glance that the voluntary transmission of HIV is a crime under the law. However, he says, its legal qualification, as provided for by the 2010 HIV Act, presupposes the meeting of several constituent elements: proven harm, a direct causal link and a deliberate intention to harm. In practice, he says, the establishment of these elements remains complex. The demonstration of intentionality is particularly difficult and cannot be based on serological status alone. It requires proof that the person knew his status, that he voluntarily exposed others to risk without prior information and that he had the obvious will to transmit the virus,” informs the CNLS, which adds that proof of the causal link and the anteriority of the infection requires specialized medical and biological expertise, rarely available in the context of ordinary judicial proceedings, thus exposing to a risk of judicial errors.

The CNLS also reports that scientific data establish that a person living with HIV on effective antiretroviral treatment, with an undetectable viral load, does not transmit the virus. And that ignorance of these evidences can lead to misinterpretations of the facts. As a result, he argues that excessive or imprecise criminalisation of HIV transmission can produce counterproductive effects by discouraging voluntary screening, as ignorance of status is sometimes perceived as legal protection. The CNLS argues that respect for the presumption of innocence, privacy and confidentiality of medical data remains a fundamental requirement. “The unauthorised disclosure of serological status is penalised by the 2010 HIV law and can engage the responsibility of the State, with regard to Senegal’s international commitments,” he said.

Plea for a circular for judicial actors integrating current scientific data on HIV
Still in the technical note of the CNLS, it is established that on the social level, the arrests and communication that accompany them may increase the stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV. “The amalgam between sexual orientations and serological status reinforces prejudices and further marginalizes already vulnerable groups,” the document points out.

Moreover, the CNLS fears that the people concerned will be subject to social and family exclusion, and will be victims of attacks on their dignity as well as verbal, psychological or even physical violence, weakening social cohesion. Another concern for the CNLS is that community organisations and civil society actors, essential to prevention and awareness, can reduce their activities for fear of stigmatisation or reprisals, leading to a decrease in social mobilisation and a weakening of prevention mechanisms. Faced with this situation, the CNLS believes that a balanced approach, based on public health, respect for human rights and the rule of law, is essential. They also ask the Prime Minister to instruct the Keeper of the Seals to disseminate a circular to judicial actors integrating current scientific data on HIV.

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Le CNLS met en garde contre des dérives judiciaires et sociales

Le secrétariat exécutif du Conseil national de lutte contre le sida (CnLS) a publié hier une note technique alertant sur les conséquences sanitaires, juridiques et sociales des récentes arrestations pour “actes contre nature” et transmission du VIH.

Le secrétariat exécutif du Conseil national de lutte contre le sida (CNLS) a publié hier une note technique alertant sur les conséquences sanitaires, juridiques et sociales des récentes arrestations pour “actes contre nature” et transmission du VIH. L’institution redoute un recul du dépistage, une rupture des traitements et une montée de la stigmatisation, appelant les autorités à privilégier une approche fondée sur la science, la santé publique et le respect des droits humains.

«Impact sanitaire, juridique et social de l’arrestation de personnes pour actes contre nature et transmission volontaire du VIH». Tel est l’intitulé de la note technique publiée hier par le Conseil national de lutte contre le sida (CNLS), qui propose une analyse approfondie des conséquences potentiellement désastreuses d’une mauvaise gestion de l’actualité liée à la transmission du VIH.

Selon le CNLS, le pays présente une épidémie de VIH de type concentrée, caractérisée par une faible prévalence dans la population générale (0,3 %) et une prévalence élevée au sein de certains groupes clés : 27% chez les hommes ayant des relations sexuelles avec des hommes, 6,4% chez les femmes travailleuses du sexe, 5,2% chez les consommateurs de drogues et 2%chez les personnes détenues. Face à cette situation, il soutient que la riposte nationale repose sur l’accès équitable au dépistage, aux moyens de prévention et au traitement antirétroviral universel.

A l’en croire, ces approches ont permis de réduire les nouvelles infections, d’améliorer la qualité de vie des personnes vivant avec le VIH et de limiter la transmission dans la population générale. Cependant, le CNLS estime que la forte médiatisation des arrestations de douze (12) personnes a suscité une vive réaction de l’opinion publique et ravivé les tensions autour de la sexualité, du VIH et des droits humains, soulevant des enjeux sanitaires, juridiques et sociaux majeurs.

Coup porté au dépistage précoce et à la continuité des soins

D’abord, sur le plan sanitaire, le CNLS craint que les poursuites judiciaires ou la divulgation du statut sérologique dissuade certaines personnes, notamment issues des groupes les plus vulnérables, de recourir volontairement au dépistage. “Cette réticence limite le dépistage précoce des personnes vivant avec le VIH et leur accès rapide au traitement, pourtant essentiel pour interrompre la transmission. Près de 90% des personnes atteintes de VIH sont dépistées à ce jour et sous traitement et 92% d’entre elles ne transmettent plus la maladie”, lit-on dans la note technique publiée par le CNLS.

Pis, dit-il, la continuité des soins est également menacée. En effet, note-t-on, par peur de stigmatisation ou d’exposition publique, certaines personnes vivant avec le VIH peuvent interrompre leur traitement antirétroviral. “Ces ruptures augmententles risques de complications médicales, de résistance aux traitements et de transmission du virus, avec un impact direct sur les indicateurs nationaux de santé”, confie le CNLS. Il est également établi que lorsque la possession de préservatifs, le recours au dépistage ou l’adhésion au traitement sont perçus comme des éléments à charge dans des procédures judiciaires, cela constitue un risque majeur pour la santé publique.

Le CNLS attire ainsi l’attention sur le fait que cette situation décourage les comportements de prévention et favorise une circulation silencieuse du virus, augmentant le nombre de personnes ignorant leur statut sérologique et les risques de transmission au sein de la population générale.

«La divulgation non autorisée du statut sérologique est pénalisée par la loi VIH de 2010…»

En ce qui concerne les enjeux juridiques des arrestations pour actes contre nature et transmission du VIH, le CNLS rappelle de prime abord que la transmission volontaire du VIH constitue un délit au regard de la loi. Toutefois, fait-il savoir, sa qualification juridique, telle que prévue par la loi VIH de 2010, suppose la réunion de plusieurs éléments constitutifs : un préjudice avéré, un lien de causalité direct et une intention délibérée de nuire. Dans la pratique, précise-t-il, l’établissement de ces éléments demeure complexe.“La démonstration de l’intentionnalité est particulièrement difficile et ne saurait reposer sur le seul statut sérologique. Elle nécessite la preuve que la personne connaissait son statut, qu’elle a volontairement exposé autrui au risque sans information préalable et qu’elle avaitla volonté manifeste de transmettre le virus”, renseigne le CNLS qui ajoute que la preuve du lien de causalité et de l’antériorité de l’infection requiert des expertises médicales et biologiques spécialisées, rarement disponibles dans le cadre des procédures judiciaires ordinaires, exposant ainsi à un risque d’erreurs judiciaires.

Le CNLS informe également que les données scientifiques établissent qu’une personne vivant avec le VIH sous traitement antirétroviral efficace, avec une charge virale indétectable, ne transmet pas le virus. Et que la méconnaissance de ces évidences peut conduire à des interprétations erronées des faits. De ce fait, il soutient qu’une criminalisation excessive ou imprécise de la transmission du VIH peut produire des effets contreproductifs en décourageant le dépistage volontaire, l’ignorance du statut étant parfois perçue comme une protection juridique. Le CNLS soutient dans la foulée que le respect de la présomption d’innocence, de la vie privée et de la confidentialité des données médicales demeure une exigence fondamentale. “La divulgation non autorisée du statut sérologique est pénalisée par la loi VIH de 2010 et peut engager la responsabilité de l’État, au regard des engagements internationaux du Sénégal”, a-t-il fait entendre.

Plaidoyer pour une circulaire à l’attention des acteurs judiciaires intégrant les données scientifiques actuelles sur le VIH

Toujours dans la note technique du CNLS, il est établi que sur le plan social, les arrestations et la communication qui les accompagnent, risquent d’accentuer la stigmatisation et la discrimination à l’encontre des personnes vivant avec le VIH. “L’amalgame entre orientations sexuelles et statut sérologique renforce les préjugés et marginalise davantage des groupes déjà vulnérables”, souligne le document.

D’ailleurs, le CNLS craint que les personnes concernées fassent l’objet d’exclusions sociales et familiales, et soient victimes d’atteintes à leur dignité ainsi qu’à des violences verbales, psychologiques, voire physiques, fragilisant la cohésion sociale. Autre préoccupation pour le CNLS, les organisations communautaires et les acteurs de la société civile, essentiels à la prévention et à la sensibilisation, peuvent réduire leurs activités par crainte de stigmatisation ou de représailles, entraînant une baisse de la mobilisation sociale et un affaiblissement des mécanismes de prévention. Face à cette situation, le CNLS pense qu’une approche équilibrée, fondée sur la santé publique, le respect des droits humains et l’État de droit, est indispensable. Il sollicite d’ailleurs le Premier Ministre afin qu’il instruise le Garde des Sceaux de diffuser une circulaire à l’attention des acteurs judiciaires intégrant les données scientifiques actuelles sur le VIH.

Criminalization and funding cuts threaten global progress against HIV/AIDS

High-risk HIV groups facing record levels of criminalisation as countries bring in draconian laws

Curbs on LGBTQ+ rights and a halt to US funding may reverse decades of progress in fight to end Aids epidemic, warns UNAids.

People at higher risk of HIV, such as gay men and people who inject drugs, are facing record levels of criminalisation worldwide, according to UNAids.

For the first time since the joint UN programme on HIV/Aids began reporting on punitive laws a decade ago, the number of countries criminalising same-sex sexual activity and gender expression has increased.

In the past year, Mali has made homosexuality a criminal offence, where the law previously only banned “public indecency”, and has also criminalised transgender people. Trinidad and Tobago’s court of appeal has overturned a landmark 2018 ruling that decriminalised consensual same-sex relations, reinstating the colonial-era ban. In Uganda, the 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Acthas “intensified the proscription of same-sex relations”, and Ghana has moved in a similar direction with the reintroduction of legislation that would increase sentences for gay sex.

The crackdown on gay rights comes as the fight against HIV/Aids has been hit by abrupt US funding cuts, which have combined with “unprecedented” humanitarian challenges and climate crisis shocks to jeopardise hopes of ending the global epidemic this decade, UNAids said.

Several groups of people, known as “key populations”, are more likely to be infected with HIV. They include sex workers, gay men and other men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs, transgender people, and those in prisons and other enclosed settings.

In 2025, only eight of 193 countries did not criminalise any of those groups or behaviours, or criminalise non-disclosure of HIV status, exposure or transmission, according to the report.

The number of people infected by HIV or dying from Aids-related causes in 2024 was the lowest for more than 30 years, according to the UNAids annual report, at 1.3 million and 630,000 respectively.

Progress was uneven – ranging from a 56% fall in infections since 2010 in sub-Saharan Africa to a 94% increase in the Middle East and North Africa. But coupled with scientific advances – such as twice-yearly drugs to prevent infection – the world had the “means and momentum” to end Aids as a public health threat by 2030, an internationally agreed goal, it said.

However, that has been “seriously jeopardised” in the early months of this year after sweeping US aid cuts that could undo decades of progress. In January, Donald Trump cut funding that had underpinned much of the global HIV response almost overnight.

The report highlights HIV-prevention services as an area of concern, with many particularly reliant on donor funding. The reported number of people receiving preventive drugs in Nigeria in November 2024 was approximately 43,000. By April 2025, that number had fallen to below 6,000.

Activists say access to prevention will be a particular issue for key populations, who may not be able to access mainstream healthcare due to factors such as stigma or fear of prosecution, but relied on donor-funded community clinics that have now closed.

Key populations were “always left behind”, said Dr Beatriz Grinsztejn, president of the International Aids Society (IAS).

The report is being released before an IAS conference next week in Kigali, Rwanda, where researchers will share data on the impact of cuts.

Modelling by Bristol University calculated that a one-year halt in US funding for preventive drugs in key populations in sub-Saharan Africa would mean roughly 700,000 people no longer used them, and lead to about 10,000 extra cases of HIV over the next five years.

UNAids modelling suggests that without any replacement for funding from US Pepfar (president’s emergency plan for Aids relief), an additional 4m deaths and 6m new infections could be expected globally by 2029.

However, Winnie Byanyima, executive director of UNAids, said 25 of the 60 low- and middle-income countries included in the report had found ways to increase HIV spending from domestic resources to 2026. “This is the future of the HIV response – nationally owned and led, sustainable, inclusive and multisectoral,” she said.

US: The fight Against HIV criminalisation faces new hurdles under Trump

Activists fighting HIV criminalization laws say they’ve lost federal government as partner

The Biden administration sued Tennessee over targeting people living with HIV, most of whom were Black, but Trump has canceled potential future efforts in other states.

A year after the Biden administration laid a blueprint for the federal government to take aim at state laws that criminalize the transmission of HIV, activists say that with the Trump administration, they’ve lost a crucial ally in challenging these outdated, racist, and homophobic laws.

Last year, the Department of Justice (DOJ) under President Joe Biden filed a first-of-its-kind lawsuit alleging that Tennessee’s aggravated prostitution statute, which made it a felony to perform sex work while living with HIV, violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). For people in the state who do not live with HIV, prostitution is ordinarily a misdemeanor.

Along with the elevated severity of the charge, an aggravated prostitution conviction in the state until last year also came with a lifetime registration as a “violent sex offender” and the onerous requirements and restrictions that accompany such a designation.

While the DOJ settled with Shelby County, Tennessee, which had the most charges filed under the law in the state, in May 2024, a separate private suit brought by OUTMemphis against Tennessee’s governor and attorney general is still making its way through the court.

Courts have repeatedly interpreted the ADA to include HIV. While the DOJ’s suit was seen as a landmark use of the ADA to challenge these laws, President Donald Trump has signaled the opposite approach. Just days after Trump’s inauguration in January, DOJ leadership ordered attorneys in the agency’s Civil Rights Division, which settled the case against Shelby County, to freeze new and ongoing civil rights cases.

That loss not only drains resources from the fight against HIV criminalization laws, but also eliminates a powerful incentive for states to reach favorable agreements, like the one reached with Shelby County.

“The ability for the federal government to bring litigation, or the threat of litigation, is very powerful,” said Sean McCormick, staff attorney at the New York City-based Center for HIV Law and Policy. “I think many state and local actors are motivated by either the financial expense—the logistical cost of pursuing litigation—so the DOJ is able to leverage that to push local actors to enter into these settlements across the board when it comes to the rights of people living with disabilities.”

HIV criminalization laws are a draconian reaction to the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and purportedly target people alleged to have intentionally spread the virus. According to Community Health Law Project, as of February, 32 states criminalize people living with HIV, and 28 states have penalty enhancements that are based on someone’s knowledge of their HIV status. But academic research and journalistic scrutiny have repeatedly shown that these laws disproportionately target Black people, particularly Black trans women.

According to the DOJ’s findings letter that preceded its lawsuit, Shelby County was home to two-thirds of people on the state’s sex offender registry for aggravated prostitution, and nine out of 10 people arrested in the county under the law were Black.

Additionally, an investigation by the Chicago Reader from June 2021 found that of roughly 60 charges in Cook County, Illinois, filed under the state’s now-repealed law that made it a felony to expose someone to HIV without their knowledge, 75% were Black. The investigation also found that charges were repeatedly filed for actions that do not transmit HIV, namely when people had spit on or bit police officers.

Illinois became the second state, after Texas, to repeal its HIV criminalization law that July, followed by New Jersey in 2022. A bill to remove similar criminal penalties in Maryland is making its way swiftly through the state legislature with bipartisan support.

Alongside arguments that the laws violate the ADA by targeting people living with HIV, public health experts have also said for years that HIV criminalization laws discourage seeking testing and treatment under the logic that if people don’t know they’re living with HIV, they can’t be accused of intentionally exposing someone to the virus.

Besides the freeze on civil rights cases, the new Trump administration has also taken other steps to hamper the work of those challenging these laws. For instance, in January, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website was scrubbed of content related to gender identity and sexual orientation. HIV-related pages were caught up in the mix, including references to the CDC’s position against HIV-related laws.

“The CDC took an affirmative stance that they oppose punitive forms of HIV [criminalization]. That’s gone,” said Jose Abrigo, the HIV Project Director for national LGBTQIA+ legal advocacy group Lambda Legal. “And so that lack of a federal position against HIV criminalization will have an effect on HIV decriminalization.”

Abrigo added that research into HIV decriminalization is also likely to be impacted by Trump policies, namely a freeze on grants through the National Institutes of Health that have held up more than $1 billion in medical research funding.

“So it’s really just the larger collateral effects of his really harmful policies that’s going to affect HIV decriminalization efforts,” Abrigo said.

Still, experts are quick to point out that the DOJ’s role in challenging these laws was effective, with the Shelby County settlement as the first and only one of its kind. Even before the Trump administration’s rollback of civil rights enforcement, activists and advocates alike said it is up to local coalitions to challenge the laws and seek justice for people living with HIV throughout the country.

Kenyon Farrow, the board president of the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland, is a longtime activist against HIV laws and for equitable access to HIV treatment and prevention. In his view, the rollback of the federal government’s attention changes little about how these laws must be challenged and ideally repealed. Farrow said he believed most local advocates would continue focusing on the state level, where most of the harmful laws exist.

“That’s probably where a lot of the work is going to start to happen to try to push for more states to reform those laws, regardless of what the federal government does,” Farrow said.

Spain: Landmark ruling in Spain recognises HIV-based discrimination for the first time

Groundbreaking ruling in Spain recognises HIV discrimination

Translated from Spanish with Deepl.com – Scroll down for original article

Cesida, the Legal Clinic of the University of Alcalá and the Fernando Pombo Foundation have achieved an important ruling that recognises for the first time discrimination based on the HIV status of a person.
The legal standing in court of social organisations such as CESIDA paves the way for greater protection of the rights of vulnerable people.

Cesida (the Spanish HIV/AIDS Coordinating Committee), the Legal Clinic of the University of Alcalá and the Fernando Pombo Foundation have obtained a pioneering court ruling on equality and non-discrimination based on HIV status in Spain. The case concerned discrimination suffered by a person with HIV in the administrative sphere. Specifically, a resolution of the Directorate General of Traffic (DGT) has been declared null and void on the grounds that it was discriminatory, as it reduced the validity of a citizen’s driving licence by half solely because he or she is living with HIV, without any justification and without following the established procedure.

The Citizens’ Anti-AIDS Commission of Navarre has accompanied “Pedro” throughout the process, providing support and advice from the outset. Their work, like that of other organisations that work directly with people with HIV, is essential to guarantee the defence of the rights of people with HIV and to offer the necessary support in these situations of discrimination. At CESIDA we would like to thank them for their commitment and that of all the organisations that fight against stigma and inequality every day.

Active legitimisation of social organisations

The case shows how social organisations such as CESIDA can better defend people in vulnerable situations under Law 15/2022 of 12 July, which is comprehensive for equal treatment and non-discrimination.

Oliver Marcos, general secretary of CESIDA, declared: ‘This ruling is a crucial step in the defence of the rights of people with HIV. There is still much to be done, but we are firmly committed to continuing to fight against the stigmatisation and discrimination suffered by people with HIV in our society.’

The active legitimisation of social organisations is a key channel for those who, due to their vulnerable situation, do not want to or cannot appear in a judicial process. Social organisations assume their legal representation by exercising their right to effective judicial protection without the affected person having to be part of the process, their authorisation being sufficient. In this way, the role of the third sector is reinforced when the organisations have among their aims the defence and promotion of human rights, without extending the scope to abstract or media defences without real content.

In this case, the person who felt that their right to equal treatment had been violated consulted the DGT’s decision with CESIDA. Three students, tutored by two professors, from the Legal Clinic of the University of Alcalá, which has collaborated with CESIDA for many years, considered that this could be a case of direct discrimination based on serological status. The Legal Clinic of the UAH then contacted the Fernando Pombo Foundation, which promotes and coordinates pro bono legal advice projects to improve the rule of law. The Fernando Pombo Foundation considered that this was a strategic issue for the achievement of its aims and also involved a team of pro bono lawyers from the law firm Gómez-Acebo & Pombo, and together they planned the legal strategy.

Ana Higuera, director of the Fernando Pombo Foundation, emphasises that ‘for us, participating in the defence of this case has been a stimulus for our mission. The admission of the claim by CESIDA, without the need for individual visibility of the person with HIV, represents a key advance in the legal approach to avoiding discrimination that, although not always visible, is real. Furthermore, the judgement’s analysis of how the discrimination occurred is clear and direct, which I consider essential to raise awareness of real situations of discrimination and differentiate them from others in which differential treatment is appropriate. In this sense, I believe that the judgement is educational and useful’.

This is one of the first cases in which, in accordance with Law 15/2022, the legitimacy of an association constituted for the purpose of defending human rights is recognised to combat a situation of discrimination in the field of public law.

The sentence: discrimination based on serological status in the renewal of a driving licence

On 24 October 2022, the DGT (Directorate General of Traffic) informed Pedro (not his real name) that his driving licence had been renewed for half the normal period (5 years instead of 10) and the only apparent reason was that he had disclosed during the medical check-up that he had HIV and was taking the corresponding antiretroviral treatment, without this affecting his ability to drive in any way.

Although the limitation on renewal may not be very relevant, the interest of the case lies in the recurrence with which situations similar to this one occur every day in the lives of people with HIV, who continue to be stigmatised despite advances in the treatment and prevention of transmission of the virus thanks to the efficacy and safety of antiretroviral drugs. Faced with this decision by the DGT, Pedro authorised CESIDA to lodge an appeal, which was possible thanks to the provisions of article 29 of Law 15/2022, which introduces the active legitimation of social entities with certain requirements.

Once the evidence had been presented and the arguments put forward by the team of pro bono lawyers from the law firm Gómez-Acebo & Pombo defending CESIDA’s claim, the Administrative Court ruled in favour of CESIDA and annulled the DGT’s decision on the grounds that it was discriminatory. This ruling is a pioneering pronouncement in our country. It literally says:

‘But discrimination occurs in several ways. The applicant is discriminated against when the procedure established in article 44.3 of the General Drivers Regulations is not followed. The applicant is discriminated against when, on appeal, the provision established in section 13 of Annex IV itself is not taken into account, according to which ‘except if the interested party accompanies a favourable medical opinion’, a report that appears on page 10 of the administrative file indicating that ‘the influence of Dovato on the ability to drive and use machines is nil or insignificant (see technical data sheet)’. The applicant is discriminated against when the decision adopted is a flat-out one, as evidenced by the fact that the administrative file begins with the applicant’s complaint, which is classified as an appeal, with no record of any previous action.

The renewal applicant is treated differently, as the established general rule (renewal for a period of ten years) does not apply to him. It is done because he is HIV positive, without any justification and without following the procedure that, in any case, would be established for this purpose.’

After the sentence was handed down, the DGT has already sent Pedro his new driving licence for the general period, without exceptions, having also notified the finality of the sentence a few days ago.

A precedent against discrimination based on serological status

Miguel Ángel Ramiro, coordinator of the Legal Clinic of the University of Alcalá, emphasised that ‘This case sets an important precedent in Spain as it is a pioneering ruling against discrimination based on HIV status, as well as for the recognition of the standing of social organisations’. And he added: ‘The participation of our students in this process has been key. Not only have they learned about applicable legal norms and procedural issues, but they have also contributed to the fight for equality and social justice, a fundamental aspect in the training of future professionals.’

Oliver Marcos, general secretary of Cesida, emphasised: ‘We encourage people with HIV to turn to associations when they feel their rights have been violated, showing that in this way changes are achieved. In addition, we place special emphasis on the fact that public administrations should be the guarantors of equality and avoid this type of discrimination in any area within their competence.’

Sentencia pionera en España reconoce la discriminación por el VIH

Cesida, la Clínica Legal de la Universidad de Alcalá y la Fundación Fernando Pombo logran una importante sentencia que reconoce por primera vez la discriminación por razón del estado serológico de una persona con el VIH.
La legitimación activa ante los tribunales de entidades sociales como CESIDA abre el camino a una mayor protección de los derechos de las personas en situación de vulnerabilidad.

Cesida (Coordinadora Estatal de VIH y sida), la Clínica Legal de la Universidad de Alcalá y la Fundación Fernando Pombo han obtenido un pronunciamiento judicial pionero en materia de igualdad y no discriminación por razón del estado serológico en España. El proceso ha enjuiciado la discriminación sufrida por una persona con el VIH en el ámbito administrativo. En concreto, se ha declarado la nulidad de una resolución de la Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT) por entender que la misma era discriminatoria ya que reducía la vigencia del permiso de conducción de un ciudadano a la mitad únicamente porque vive con el VIH, sin motivación alguna y con ausencia del procedimiento que, en todo caso, está establecido para ello.

La Comisión Ciudadana Antisida de Navarra ha acompañado a «Pedro» durante todo el proceso, brindándole apoyo y asesoramiento desde el primer momento. Su labor, al igual que la de otras entidades que trabajan directamente con personas con el VIH, es esencial para garantizar la defensa de los derechos de las personas con el VIH y ofrecer el respaldo necesario ante estas situaciones de discriminación. Desde CESIDA queremos agradecer su compromiso y el de todas las organizaciones que día a día luchan contra el estigma y la desigualdad.

Legitimación activa de las entidades sociales

El caso muestra cómo las organizaciones del ámbito social como CESIDA pueden defender mejor a personas en situación de vulnerabilidad en virtud de la Ley 15/2022, de 12 de julio, integral para la igualdad de trato y la no discriminación.

Oliver Marcos, secretario general de CESIDA, declaró: “Esta sentencia es un paso crucial en la defensa de los derechos de las personas con el VIH. Aún queda mucho por hacer, pero tenemos el firme compromiso de seguir luchando contra la estigmatización y la discriminación que sufrimos las personas con la infección por el VIH en nuestra sociedad.”

La legitimación activa de las entidades sociales resulta una vía clave para aquellas personas que por estar en una situación de vulnerabilidad no quieren o no pueden personarse en un proceso judicial. Las organizaciones sociales asumen su representación legal ejerciendo su derecho a la tutela judicial efectiva sin que la persona afectada tenga que formar parte del proceso, bastando su autorización. De este modo, se refuerza el papel del tercer sector cuando las organizaciones tengan entre sus fines la defensa y promoción de los derechos humanos, sin que se amplíen los ámbitos a defensas abstractas o mediáticas sin contenido real.

En este caso, la persona que sintió vulnerado su derecho a la igualdad de trato consultó con CESIDA la decisión de la DGT. Tres estudiantes, tutorizados por dos profesores, de la Clínica Legal de la Universidad de Alcalá, que colabora desde hace muchos años con CESIDA, consideraron que podría tratarse de un supuesto de discriminación directa por razón del estado serológico. La Clínica Legal de la UAH contactó entonces con la Fundación Fernando Pombo, que impulsa y coordina proyectos de asesoramiento jurídico pro bono para mejorar el Estado de Derecho. La Fundación Fernando Pombo consideró que se trataba de un tema estratégico para la consecución de sus fines e involucró también un equipo de abogados pro bono del despacho Gómez-Acebo & Pombo, y juntos planificaron la estrategia jurídica.

Ana Higuera, directora de la Fundación Fernando Pombo, destaca que “para nosotros participar en la defensa de este caso ha sido un estímulo para nuestra misión. La admisión de la reclamación por CESIDA, sin necesidad de una visibilidad individual de la persona con el VIH, representa un avance clave en el enfoque jurídico para evitar discriminaciones que, aunque no siempre son visibles, son reales. Además, el análisis que realiza la sentencia sobre cómo se ha producido la discriminación es claro y directo, lo que considero fundamental para concienciar sobre situaciones reales de discriminación y diferenciarlas de otras en las que el trato diferenciado es adecuado. En este sentido, creo que la sentencia es pedagógica y útil”.

Se trata de uno de los primeros casos que, conforme a la Ley 15/2022, se reconoce la legitimación de una asociación constituida con el fin de defender los derechos humanos para combatir una situación de discriminación en el ámbito del Derecho público.

La sentencia: discriminación por estado serológico en la renovación del permiso de conducir

El 24 de octubre de 2022 la DGT comunicó a Pedro (nombre ficticio) la renovación de su permiso de conducción reducida a la mitad de tiempo (5 años en lugar de 10) y la única razón aparente fue que éste comunicó en la revisión médica que tenía el VIH y tomaba el correspondiente tratamiento antirretroviral, sin que esto afectará en modo alguno a su capacidad de conducir.

Aunque la limitación de la renovación pudiera resultar poco relevante, el interés del caso está en la recurrencia con que situaciones similares a ésta se producen todos los días en la vida de las personas con el VIH, que siguen siendo estigmatizadas a pesar de los avances en el tratamiento y la prevención de la transmisión del virus gracias a la eficacia y seguridad de los fármacos antirretrovirales. Ante esta decisión de la DGT, Pedro autorizó a CESIDA a interponer un recurso contencioso-administrativo, lo que pudo hacerse gracias a la previsión del artículo 29 de la Ley 15/2022 que introduce la legitimación activa de las entidades sociales con ciertos requisitos.

Una vez practicada la prueba y expuestos los argumentos por el equipo de abogados pro bono del despacho Gómez-Acebo & Pombo que defendían la pretensión de CESIDA, el Juzgado de lo contencioso-administrativo falló en favor de CESIDA y ha anulado la resolución de la DGT por entender que la misma es discriminatoria. Esta sentencia es un pronunciamiento pionero en nuestro país. Textualmente dice:

“Pero es que la discriminación se produce de varias maneras. Se discrimina al solicitante al no seguirse el procedimiento establecido en el artículo 44.3 del Reglamento General de Conductores. Se discrimina al solicitante cuando en vía de recurso no se tiene en cuenta la previsión establecida en el propio apartado 13 del Anexo IV conforme a la que “excepto si el interesado acompaña un dictamen facultativo favorable”, informe que consta en el folio 10 del expediente administrativo en el que se indica que “la influencia del Dovato sobre la capacidad de conducir y utilizar máquinas es nula o insignificante (consultar ficha técnica)”. Se discrimina al solicitante cuando la decisión adoptada lo es de plano, como acredita el que el expediente administrativo se inicia con la reclamación del solicitante que se califica como recurso de alzada, sin que conste ninguna actuación previa.

Se trata de forma diferente al solicitante de la renovación, al que no se aplica la norma general establecida (renovación por plazo de diez años), se hace por su condición de seropositivo, sin motivación alguna y con ausencia del procedimiento que, en todo caso, estaría establecido para ello.”

Después de recibirse la sentencia, la DGT ya ha enviado a Pedro su nuevo permiso de conducir por el período general, sin excepciones, habiéndose, además notificado la firmeza de la sentencia hace unos días.

Un precedente contra la discriminación por razón del estado serológico

Miguel Ángel Ramiro, coordinador de la Clínica Legal de la Universidad de Alcalá, recalcó “Este caso sienta un precedente importante en España al ser un pronunciamiento pionero contra la discriminación por razón del estado serológico; así como para el reconocimiento de la legitimación activa de las entidades sociales”. Y añadió: “La participación de nuestros estudiantes en este proceso ha sido clave. No solo han aprendido sobre normas jurídicas aplicables y cuestiones procedimentales, sino que también han contribuido a la lucha por la igualdad y la justicia social, un aspecto fundamental en la formación de futuros profesionales.”

Oliver Marcos, secretario general de Cesida, enfatizó: “Animamos a las personas con el VIH a acudir a las asociaciones cuando sientan vulnerados sus derechos, evidenciando que de esta manera se logran cambios. Además, hacemos especial hincapié en que las administraciones públicas deben ser las garantes de la igualdad y evitar este tipo de discriminación en cualquier ámbito de su competencia.”

Mexico: Advocacy organisation calls for the repeal of HIV criminalisation law in Tabasco

Tudyssex seeks to eliminate laws that criminalize people with HIV

Translated from Spanish with Google Translate; scroll down for original article.

The president of Tabasqueños Unidos por la Diversidad y la Salud Sexual (Tudyssex), José Cruz Guzmán Matías, said that they are preparing a proposal to eliminate the legal provisions that criminalize people living with HIV, for having sexual relations without a condom, describing them as discriminatory and obsolete.

Cruz Guzmán pointed out that the state’s Criminal Code contemplates penalties of up to six years in prison and fines for those who, living with communicable infections, are denounced for having unprotected sex.

The activist recalled that, a person with HIV who has adequate control with antiretroviral drugs, achieves that the virus is not only undetectable, but non-transmissible, so that he can lead a normal life, without risk of infecting others.

“The Penal Code includes an article dating back to 1940, when syphilis was the most feared disease. Today we know that HIV, with the appropriate treatment, does not represent a risk of transmission in these conditions. That’s why we ask for its elimination,” he explained.

In addition to the penalty, he also denounced civil rights limitations faced by people with HIV, such as the requirement to undergo medical tests before civil marriage.

According to the leader of Tudyssex, this measure can be used to deny marriage to HIV-positive people, despite the fact that both parties are informed and agree.

Busca Tudyssex que se eliminen leyes que criminalizan a personas con VIH

El presidente de Tabasqueños Unidos por la Diversidad y la Salud Sexual (Tudyssex), José Cruz Guzmán Matías, señaló que preparan una propuesta para eliminar las disposiciones legales que criminalizan a las personas que viven con VIH, por mantener relaciones sexuales sin condón, calificándolas de discriminatorias y obsoletas.

Cruz Guzmán señaló que el Código Penal del estado contempla penas de hasta seis años de prisión y multas para quienes, viviendo con infecciones transmisibles, sean denunciados por tener relaciones sexuales sin protección.

El activista recordó que, una persona con VIH que lleva un control adecuado con medicamentos antirretrovirales, logra que el virus sea no solo indetectable, sino intransmisible, por lo que puede llevar una vida normal, sin riesgo de contagiar a otros.

“El Código Penal incluye un artículo que data de 1940, cuando la sífilis era la enfermedad más temida. Hoy sabemos que el VIH, con el tratamiento adecuado, no representa un riesgo de transmisión en estas condiciones. Por eso pedimos su eliminación”, explicó.

Además de la penalización, también denunció las limitaciones en derechos civiles que enfrentan las personas con VIH, como el requisito de realizarse pruebas médicas antes del matrimonio civil.

Uzbekistan: Successful advocacy is reshaping HIV legislation and profession bans

“‘A woman came to us, she asked for help with the legal process’” – Interview with Evgenia Korotkova

Translated from Russian with Google translate. Scroll down for the original article.

Do you want to know how an activist living with HIV went from a public defender in cases under Article 113 of the Criminal Code to a community expert who, after speaking at a feminist forum, is influencing the humanisation of legislation on people living with HIV in Uzbekistan?

Read about it in Svetlana Moroz’s interview with Yevgeniya Korotkova on the significant reduction of the list of prohibited professions for people living with HIV in Uzbekistan.

S.M.: Zhenya, let’s start from the beginning. In 2020, a woman who faced criminal prosecution for working as a hairdresser came to your organisation for help. Tell us about this woman, why did she come to you specifically?

E.K.: I remember very well when we first started to focus on the issue of HIV criminalisation under Article 113 of the Criminal Code. At that time, we were actively collecting cases of people who had been prosecuted under this article. At some point we came across an article on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It said that an orphaned teenager living with HIV had sexual relations with a teenage girl and she became pregnant. The main message of the article was directed at parents – they should keep an eye on their children and have preventive conversations with them.

However, the article was full of stigmatising, incorrect and distorted information. Amidst the outrage, we decided to write a post on our organisation’s page, where I gave my comments. This post also included an appeal to people living with HIV who were affected by Part 4 of Article 113 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan. We informed that they could contact us for legal assistance and counselling.

The response to the post did not take long. One of the first to appeal was a woman who worked as a hairdresser. She told us that her case had already been taken to court and at the time of the investigation she didn’t even have money for a lawyer. We started looking for ways to help and were able to find money to pay for a lawyer. The lawyer took on her case and filed a request to review the materials.

In the process of discussions with the woman, we came to the conclusion that I would participate in the court as a public defender from our organisation. It was the first such experience for me. We did not know that we even had the opportunity to represent someone’s interests in this way. So we prepared a motion in which we indicated that in addition to the lawyer, the interests of the woman would be represented by a public defender – that is me.

This case was a serious test for me. We discovered a new form of assistance that we had not even realised existed before.Now we know that the involvement of a public defender can be key in such cases and really helps people.

S.M.: How did this case get to court? Who sued this woman? How did they find out about her HIV status?

E.K.: How exactly this case ended up in court, we learnt only during the trial. It turned out that a police officer came to the woman’s workplace with some list. He showed her that she was on the list and said that it included people who violated the law. In particular, it was about those who were HIV-positive and worked in a hairdresser’s shop, which was allegedly against the law.

In fact, it meant the transfer of health data to law enforcement agencies without the consent of the patient. And at the trial they did not even tried to hide this fact. During the trial, the prosecutor who was in charge of the case directly stated that the information about her HIV status had been obtained from the AIDS Centre.

S.M.: How was the trial? What was the verdict?

E.K.: The trial was held in closed mode, because the case concerned doctor-patient confidentiality and confidentiality of the diagnosis. We were very lucky that we managed to attract doctors who supported our side and defended the woman.She was strictly following the ARV regimen, so she had an undetectable viral load. In court, a doctor acted as an expert who clearly explained that under such conditions, infection was impossible. He also emphasised that there were no casualties at the time of trial.

Even the investigator pointed out in the case file that the woman did not use scissors or razors in her work – only a haircutting machine. She did not use cutting or stabbing objects that could theoretically create a threat of infection. It is important to note that the witnesses who were called from her work did not testify negatively. They confirmed that the woman performed her duties professionally and without impropriety.

In my arguments, I relied on this evidence to argue that our defendant could not have transmitted HIV infection while working as a hairdresser. During the hearing, the judge asked me, ‘As a public defender, would you, yourself, have gone to this woman to cut your hair?’ I explained that HIV transmission would have required a number of unlikely conditions: she would have had to be off therapy, and she would have cut herself and me badly. Only then could there be a theoretical threat of infection. But even then, the probability of transmission would be extremely low.

I would like to note separately that the Makhali committee gave our defendant serious support. They filed many petitions in her defence, despite knowing her HIV status. The women’s committee also got involved in the process and filed additional motions in favour of our client.

However, the woman was still given a suspended sentence of two and a half years. This decision was taken because of the existence of Article 113, under which she was tried. The court took into account that she had a minor child, and this influenced the mitigation of the sentence.

I still remember how the judge, while announcing the verdict, emphasised the importance of our advocacy work. He said that our organisation should work on changing the list of prohibited professions because it contradicts modern legislation. These words were the starting point for a great advocacy process that took us three years. This case not only showed us the need to protect people in specific situations, but also gave a start to changes at the systemic level.

S.M.: How does this woman live now? How does she feel?

E.K.: You can imagine, she worked in her favourite profession for more than 30 years. It was a terrible blow for her – to lose the job on which she had built her whole life. Given that she had a minor child and was a single mother and the sole breadwinner in the family, all the responsibility fell on her shoulders. After the trial, it was very difficult for her to find a suitable job. She did everything she could: she cleaned houses, worked as a governess, tried a lot of professions.

It was not easy for her to recover from the trial. She underwent a long psychological rehabilitation, and we, on our part, also supported her by providing the services of a psychologist. This period was very difficult for her. When the legislation was finally changed, I was the first to send her the amended document. But unfortunately, she never returned to the profession. Instead, she started her own small business, determined to start her life with a clean slate.

We continued and still maintain a relationship with her. After the trial, she took part in the Judges’ Forum where she spoke openly and told her story. She shared how an unfair piece of legislation had affected her life and it was an act of courage and hope for change. She was motivated by the desire to help others who are HIV-positive so that they would no longer have to face the hardships and humiliation that she went through.

We realised that this case was not only about criminal law issues, but also touched on socio-economic rights. It showed how much stigma and restrictive laws can affect a person’s life, depriving them of a source of income and the ability to work in a profession. Nevertheless, her story has become an important part of our advocacy work and has helped draw attention to the need for change in the law.

S.M.: We have another milestone in this story – in 2022, Uzbekistan, the third country in Central Asia (after Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan) to receive, among other things, a recommendation to decriminalise HIV transmission from the UN CEDAW committee. Your country received this recommendation, largely due to your participation and our joint shadow report from the community. Can we assume that the recommendations received have influenced the advocacy process in the context of HIV decriminalisation, namely the revision of the list of prohibited professions?

E.K.: I had only three minutes to address the CEDAW Committee and I remember very well how we prepared my oral statement. Every second mattered. It seems to me that all our efforts were interconnected, especially considering how seriously the state takes the recommendations of international structures. In recent years, the country has really seen progress in supporting women.

From 2019, laws have started to be adopted to ensure equal rights for men and women and to combat discrimination and violence against women. I see that the country is emphasising women’s economic independence and expanding our educational and professional opportunities. Special attention is being paid to women’s access to leadership positions, which opens up new perspectives for us.

I believe that the final recommendations of the CEDAW Committee may have played a role in the state’s attention to the list of prohibited professions. This list has long been in need of revision, as it restricted women’s rights and hindered their professional development. The work in this direction is ongoing, and I hope that our efforts will help more women to avoid such restrictions and achieve justice.

S.M.: So, the year is 2024. Something has happened that probably you and we ourselves did not expect – the list of prohibited professions for people living with HIV in Uzbekistan has been changed (reduced) by the order of the Minister of Health. How did this become possible?

E.K.: According to the new order, HIV-positive people can now work as dentists, as long as they are not involved in surgical interventions. This move was a significant change, especially for us, as we had a case where a man working as a dental technician was prosecuted just because of his HIV status.

In November 2023, there was a big feminist forum where I gave a speech that was well received. One of the newspapers wrote about me as a leader living with HIV. After this publication, the presidential administration became interested in my story. I was invited to a meeting to discuss the most pressing issues facing women and people living with HIV.

At the meeting, I tried to use this opportunity to draw attention to the list of prohibited professions. I explained that this piece of legislation is not only of no public benefit, but also destroys people’s lives by restricting their ability to work in their profession. My arguments resonated. I had the impression that I was able to convince them that this order had long ago lost its relevance.

In the course of the discussion, it became clear that the officials with whom I spoke had a progressive approach and were ready to support the initiative to review and amend the list of prohibited professions. Their readiness for dialogue and understanding of the importance of the issue inspired me and gave me hope for further positive changes.

S.M.: Do I understand correctly that officials of the Ministry of Health had no resistance to this initiative? Before that, doctors used to hand over data on people with HIV to the police. I can’t forget the case when a woman (nurse) was simply summoned to the district department in the middle of the working day, checked the list of her contacts in the phone book, asked who she was sleeping with, threatened with an article, etc. – such ‘preventive’ humiliating methods.

E.K.: After the adoption of the new, shortened list of prohibited professions, we started to conduct trainings for medical workers. In the process, we encountered some resistance – among the participants there were epidemiologists who did not support the changes. They argued that the risk of HIV transmission still existed despite the new data and international standards. Such statements rather demonstrated their lack of awareness of the issue. Later, their colleagues, doctors with more experience, even advised them to refrain from making such statements in order not to mislead other participants.

Particularly important for us was the participation of the chief epidemiologist of the Republican AIDS Centre in these trainings. He presented information about the changes in the list of professions in the most professional and accessible way possible, which helped to reduce mistrust and resistance among health workers. His presentations played an important role in disseminating correct knowledge.

We also held meetings with the staff of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in particular with representatives of the moral department, which supervised cases related to Article 113 of the Criminal Code. They were the ones who had previously initiated cases against HIV-positive hairdressers, leading to their criminal prosecution. These discussions were important for us because they allowed us to convey to law enforcement officials that the old norms no longer meet modern realities and only contribute to the stigmatisation of people living with HIV.

S.M.: We know that you worked on the bill that has already been submitted from your NGO Ishonch va Haet to the parliament. You have also received a response, thankfully. How do you assess the prospect of amending the Criminal Code with regard to Article 113?

E.K.: I am an optimist and I am sure that the changes will definitely happen, it is only a matter of time. It is already evident that people involved in legislative reforms realise that some laws are outdated and need to be revised. It is good to see that the country is actively aiming to update the legislative systems and bring them in line with modern realities.

I believe that our voice will be heard. Especially since these changes are being called for not only by civil society, but also by the scientific and medical community, as well as international organisations. These are not just recommendations invented in a narrow circle of activists/v – they are a global agenda, reflecting progress and the realisation that HIV infection is now a chronic disease that can be lived with thanks to affordable and effective treatment.

Importantly, positive developments are already taking place in the country. Progressive initiatives on gender equality, protection of the rights of women and people living with HIV demonstrate the state’s commitment to improving the quality of life of its citizens. These changes give me confidence that the reform will also affect the legislative acts that still restrict people in their rights and freedom of choice of profession.

I believe in my state and its rational approach. I see that there is a dialogue going on and it is bearing fruit. We are moving towards change, and I am convinced that it will be positive for everyone.

S.M.: One last question. Looking back at your path from a public defender to a community expert who submits a draft of legislative changes to the parliament, tell us how you came to this? Who/what is behind it?

E.K.: Behind all our efforts there are always people – people who need help and support. I myself am a woman living with HIV, and although I have not experienced criminalisation directly, I have had many examples of stigma and discrimination in my life. One of the people I defended in court is now an employee of our organisation. It is stories like these that give me the strength and inspiration to keep going.

Deep down, I dream of a perfect world. No one can stop me from at least trying to make it so. My main motivation has always been to ensure that people living with HIV no longer face discrimination and stigma, that their rights are respected and not violated just because of their diagnosis.

I am convinced that the state should work in the interests of those who live in it. And today we really have good prospects.We see the existence of political will and civil society, which is actively involved in promoting change and has real weight.This is a favourable time for change.

The state is showing a desire to hear us and understand our problems. Moreover, we are not just talking about problems, we are helping to find solutions, and this process becomes an additional motivation for me. When we are listened to and really heard, it is inspiring. It means that our efforts matter and lead to change.

Order of the Minister of Health of the Republic of Uzbekistan

On approval of the List of types of professional activities prohibited for persons infected with the human immunodeficiency virus

[Registered by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan on May 07, 2014. Registration № 2581]

Order of the Minister of Health of the Republic of Uzbekistan

On approval of the List of types of professional activities prohibited for persons infected with the human immunodeficiency virus

[Registered by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan on February 19, 2024. Registration № 3497]

Types of professional activities prohibited for persons infected with the human immunodeficiency virus

List:

1. Professions related to the procurement and processing of blood and its components.

2. Professions related to the production of blood and its components, sperm and breast milk.

3. Professions related to blood transfusion.

4. Professions related to the following medical procedures: injections; dialysis; venesection;, catheterization.

5. Professions related to cosmetic and plastic surgery.

6. Professions related to dental procedures.

7. Professions related to childbirth.

8. Professions related to abortions and other gynecological operations.

9. Professions related to hair and shaving, piercing, manicure, pedicure and tattooing.

Types of professional activities prohibited for persons infected with the human immunodeficiency virus

List:

1. Professions related to the procurement, processing and transfusion of human blood and/or its components.

2. Professions related to all types of surgery.

3. Professions related to childbirth.

4. Professions related to the following medical procedures: dialysis; venesection; catheterization.

«К нам пришла женщина, она просила помощи с судебным процессом»

Интервью с Евгенией Коротковой

Хотите узнать, как активистка, живущая с ВИЧ, прошла путь от общественной защитницы по делам по 113-й статье Уголовного Кодекса до экспертки сообщества, которая после выступления на феминистском форуме влияет на гуманизацию законодательства в отношении людей, живущих с ВИЧ, в Узбекистане?

Читайте об этом в интервью Светланы Мороз с Евгенией Коротковой, посвященном существенному сокращению списка запрещенных профессий для людей, живучих с ВИЧ, в Узбекистане.

С.М.: Женя, давай начнем с начала. В 2020 году к вам в организацию за помощью обратилась женщина, которая столкнулась с уголовным преследованием за то, что она работала парикмахером. Расскажи про эту женщину, почему она пришла именно к вам?

Е.К.: Я хорошо помню, как мы только начали уделять внимание проблеме криминализации ВИЧ в рамках статьи 113 Уголовного кодекса. Мы тогда активно собирали кейсы людей, которые были привлечены по этой статье. В какой-то момент наткнулись на статью на сайте МВД. В ней говорилось о том, что подросток-сирота, живущий с ВИЧ, вступил в половую связь с подростком девочкой, и она забеременела. Основной посыл статьи был направлен на родителей — мол, следите за детьми и проводите с ними профилактические беседы.

Однако статья была переполнена стигматизирующей, некорректной и искаженной информацией. На фоне возмущения мы решили написать пост на странице нашей организации, где я дала свои комментарии. В этом посте также было обращение к людям, живущим с ВИЧ, которые пострадали по части 4-й статьи 113 УК РУз. Мы сообщали, что они могут обратиться к нам за юридической помощью и консультациями.

Реакция на пост не заставила себя долго ждать. Одной из первых обратилась женщина, работавшая парикмахером. Она рассказала, что ее дело уже передано в суд, а на момент расследования у нее даже не было средств на адвоката. Мы начали искать возможности помочь и смогли найти деньги на оплату адвокатских услуг. Адвокатка взялась за ее дело и подал запрос на ознакомление с материалами.

В процессе обсуждений с этой женщиной мы пришли к выводу, что я буду участвовать в суде как общественная защитница от нашей организации. Это был для меня первый такой опыт. Мы не знали, что у нас вообще есть возможность представлять чьи-то интересы таким образом. И мы подготовили ходатайство, в котором указали, что помимо адвоката интересы женщины будет представлять общественная защитница — то есть я.

Этот случай стал для меня серьезным испытанием. Мы открыли для себя новую форму помощи, о существовании которой раньше даже не догадывались. Теперь мы знаем, что участие общественного(ой) защитника/цы может оказаться ключевым в подобных делах и реально помогает людям.

С.М.: Как это дело попало в суд? Кто подал в суд на эту женщину? Как они узнали о ее ВИЧ статусе?

Е.К.: То, как именно это дело оказалось в суде, мы узнали только в ходе судебного процесса. Оказалось, что к женщине на работу пришел сотрудник милиции с каким-то списком. Он показал ей, что она числится в этом списке, и заявил, что туда включены люди, нарушающие закон. В частности, речь шла о тех, кто имеет ВИЧ-положительный статус и работает в парикмахерской, что якобы противоречит закону.

Фактически это означало передачу данных о состоянии здоровья правоохранительным органам без согласия пациентки. И на суде этот факт даже не пытались скрыть. В ходе разбирательства прокурор, который вел дело, прямо заявил, что сведения о ее ВИЧ-статусе были получены из Центра СПИДа.

С.М.: Как проходил суд? Какой был приговор?

Е.К.: Судебное разбирательство проходило в закрытом режиме, поскольку дело касалось врачебной тайны и конфиденциальности диагноза. Нам очень повезло, что удалось привлечь врачей, которые поддержали нашу сторону и встали на защиту женщины. Она строго следовала режиму приёма АРВ-терапии, благодаря чему у нее была неопределяемая вирусная нагрузка. В суде в качестве эксперта выступил врач, который ясно объяснил, что при таких условиях инфицирование было невозможно. Он также подчеркнул, что на момент разбирательства не было ни одного пострадавшего.

Даже следователь указал в материалах дела, что женщина не пользовалась в работе ножницами или бритвами — только машинкой для стрижки. Она не применяла режущие и колющие предметы, которые могли бы теоретически создать угрозу заражения. Важно отметить, что свидетели, которых вызывали с ее работы, не давали негативных показаний. Они подтверждали, что женщина выполняла свои обязанности профессионально и без нарушений.

В своих прениях я опиралась на эти доказательства, утверждая, что наша подзащитная не могла передать ВИЧ-инфекцию, работая парикмахером. Во время заседания судья задал мне вопрос: «Вы, как общественная защитница, сами бы пошли стричься к этой женщине?» Я объяснила, что для передачи ВИЧ потребовался бы целый ряд маловероятных условий: она должна была бы не принимать терапию, при этом и себя, и меня сильно порезать. Только в таком случае могла бы возникнуть теоретическая угроза заражения. Но даже тогда вероятность передачи была бы крайне низкой.

Отдельно хочу отметить, что махалинский комитет оказал нашей подзащитной серьезную поддержку. Они подали множество ходатайств в ее защиту, несмотря на знание ее ВИЧ-статуса. К этому процессу также подключился комитет женщин, который внес дополнительные ходатайства в пользу нашей клиентки.

Однако женщине все же назначили условный срок — два с половиной года. Это решение было принято из-за существования статьи 113, по которой ее судили. Суд учел, что у нее есть несовершеннолетний ребенок, и это повлияло на смягчение приговора.

До сих пор помню, как судья, оглашая приговор, подчеркнул важность нашего адвокационного направления. Он сказал, что наша организация должна работать над изменением списка запрещенных профессий, потому что он противоречит современному законодательству. Эти слова стали отправной точкой для большого адвокационного процесса, который занял у нас три года. Это дело не просто показало нам необходимость защиты людей в конкретных ситуациях, но и дало старт изменениям на системном уровне.

С.М.: Как сейчас живет эта женщина? Как она себя чувствует?

Е.К.: Представляешь, она проработала в своей любимой профессии более 30 лет. Для нее это было страшным ударом — лишиться работы, на которой она строила всю свою жизнь. Учитывая, что у нее был несовершеннолетний ребенок, а она — мать-одиночка и единственная кормилица в семье, вся ответственность легла на ее плечи. После суда ей было очень тяжело найти подходящую работу. Она бралась за все, что могла: убирала дома, работала гувернанткой, перепробовала массу профессий.

Восстановиться после судебного процесса ей было нелегко. Она проходила длительную психологическую реабилитацию, и мы со своей стороны также оказывали ей поддержку, предоставив услуги психолога. Этот период был очень непростым для нее. Когда наконец изменили законодательство, я первой отправила ей документ с поправками. Но, к сожалению, она так и не вернулась в профессию. Вместо этого она открыла свой маленький бизнес, решив начать жизнь с чистого листа.

Мы продолжали и до сих пор поддерживаем с ней отношения. После суда она приняла участие в Форуме судей, где выступила с открытым лицом и рассказала свою историю. Она поделилась тем, как несправедливая законодательная норма отразилась на ее жизни, и это стало для нее своего рода актом мужества и надеждой на перемены. Её мотивацией было желание помочь другим людям с ВИЧ-положительным статусом, чтобы они больше не сталкивались с теми трудностями и унижениями, через которые прошла она.

Мы понимали, что этот случай касался не только вопросов уголовного права, но и затрагивал социально-экономические права. Он показал, как сильно стигматизация и ограничительные законы могут повлиять на жизнь человека, лишив его источника дохода и возможности работать по профессии. Тем не менее, ее история стала важной частью нашей адвокационной работы и помогла привлечь внимание к необходимости изменений в законодательстве.

С.М.: У нас есть еще одна веха в этой истории — в 2022 году, Узбекистан, третья страна в ЦА (после Таджикистана и Кыргызстана), которая среди прочего получила рекомендацию декриминализировать передачу ВИЧ от комитета ООН CEDAW. Твоя страна получила эту рекомендацию, во многом, благодаря твоему участию и нашему совместному теневому отчету от сообщества. Можем ли мы считать, что полученные рекомендации повлияли на адвокационные процесс в контексте декриминализации ВИЧ, а именно пересмотр списка запрещенных профессий?

Е.К.: У меня было всего три минуты на выступление перед членами Комитета CEDAW, и я прекрасно помню, как мы готовили мое устное заявление. Каждая секунда имела значение. Мне кажется, что все наши усилия были взаимосвязаны, особенно с учетом того, насколько серьезно государство относится к рекомендациям международных структур. В последние годы в стране действительно заметен прогресс в вопросах поддержки женщин.

С 2019 года начали приниматься законы, направленные на обеспечение равноправия мужчин и женщин и борьбу с дискриминацией и насилием в отношении женщин. Я вижу, что в стране делается акцент на экономическую независимость женщин и расширение наших возможностей в образовании и профессиональной деятельности. Особое внимание уделяется доступу женщин к руководящим должностям, что открывает новые перспективы для нас.

Я верю, что заключительные рекомендации Комитета CEDAW могли сыграть свою роль в том, что государство обратило внимание на перечень запрещенных профессий. Этот список давно нуждался в пересмотре, так как он ограничивал права женщин и препятствовал их профессиональному развитию. Работа в этом направлении продолжается, и я надеюсь, что наши усилия помогут еще большему числу женщин избежать подобных ограничений и добиться справедливости.

С.М.: Итак, 2024 год. Случилось то, что, наверное, вы и мы сами не ожидали – приказом министра здравоохранения изменен (сокращен) список запрещенных профессий для людей, живущих с ВИЧ, в Узбекистане. Как это стало возможным?

Е.К.: Согласно новому приказу, ВИЧ-положительные люди теперь могут работать стоматологами, если они не занимаются хирургическими вмешательствами. Этот шаг стал значимым изменением, особенно для нас, поскольку у нас был случай, когда мужчину, работающего зубным техником, привлекли к уголовной ответственности только из-за его ВИЧ-статуса.

В ноябре 2023 года прошел большой феминистский форум, на котором я выступила с речью, вызвавшей широкий отклик. В одной из газет обо мне написали как о лидерке, живущей с ВИЧ. После этой публикации моей историей заинтересовались в администрации президента. Меня пригласили на встречу, чтобы обсудить наиболее острые проблемы, с которыми сталкиваются женщины и люди, живущие с ВИЧ.

На встрече я постаралась использовать этот шанс, чтобы привлечь внимание к списку запрещенных профессий. Я объяснила, что этот законодательный акт не только не приносит общественной пользы, но и разрушает жизни людей, ограничивая их возможности работать по профессии. Мои доводы нашли отклик. У меня сложилось впечатление, что я смогла убедить их в том, что этот приказ давно утратил свою актуальность.

В процессе обсуждения стало очевидно, что чиновники, с которыми я общалась, проявили прогрессивный подход и готовы поддержать инициативу по пересмотру и изменению списка запрещенных профессий. Их готовность к диалогу и понимание важности вопроса вдохновили меня и дали надежду на дальнейшие позитивные изменения.

С.М.: Я правильно понимаю, что у чиновников Минздрава не было сопротивления этой инициативе? До этого врачи передавали милиции данные о людях с ВИЧ. Не могу забыть случай, когда женщину (медсестру) просто посредине рабочего дня вызвали в райотдел, проверяли список ее контактов в телефонной книге, спрашивали с кем она спит, угрожали статьей, и т.д. — такие «профилактические» унизительные методы.

Е.К.: После принятия нового, сокращенного списка запрещенных профессий мы начали проводить тренинги для медицинских работников. В процессе мы столкнулись с определенным сопротивлением — среди участников встречались эпидемиологи, которые не поддерживали изменения. Они утверждали, что риск передачи ВИЧ все равно существует, несмотря на новые данные и международные стандарты. Такие заявления, скорее, демонстрировали их недостаточную осведомленность в вопросе. Позже их коллеги, врачи с большим опытом, даже советовали им воздержаться от таких высказываний, чтобы не вводить в заблуждение других участников.

Особенно важным для нас стало участие главного эпидемиолога Республиканского центра СПИД в этих тренингах. Он представил информацию об изменениях списка профессий максимально профессионально и доступно, что помогло снизить уровень недоверия и сопротивления среди медработников. Его выступления сыграли важную роль в распространении правильных знаний.

Мы также проводили встречи с сотрудниками МВД, в частности с представителями нравственного отдела, который курировал дела, связанные со статьей 113 УК. Именно они ранее инициировали дела против ВИЧ-положительных парикмахеров, приводя к их уголовному преследованию. Эти обсуждения были для нас важны, поскольку позволили донести до сотрудников правоохранительных органов, что старые нормы больше не отвечают современным реалиям и только способствуют стигматизации людей, живущих с ВИЧ.

С.М.: Мы знаем, что ты работала над законопроектом, который уже подан от вашей неправительственной организации «Ишонч ва Хает» в парламент. Вы еще ответ получили, с благодарностью. Как ты оцениваешь перспективу внесения изменений в УК в отношении 113-й статьи?

Е.К.: Я — оптимистка и уверена, что изменения непременно произойдут, это лишь вопрос времени. Уже сейчас видно, что люди, занимающиеся реформами в области законодательства, осознают, что некоторые законы устарели и требуют пересмотра. Приятно видеть, что страна активно нацелена на обновление законодательных систем и приведение их в соответствие с современными реалиями.

Я верю, что наш голос будет услышан. Тем более, что к этим изменениям призывает не только гражданское общество, но и научное и медицинское сообщество, а также международные организации. Это не просто рекомендации, придуманные в узком кругу активисток/в — это глобальная повестка, отражающая прогресс и понимание того, что ВИЧ-инфекция сегодня является хроническим заболеванием, с которым можно жить благодаря доступному и эффективному лечению.

Важно, что в стране уже происходят позитивные сдвиги. Прогрессивные инициативы в области гендерного равенства, защиты прав женщин и людей, живущих с ВИЧ, демонстрируют стремление государства к улучшению качества жизни своих граждан. Эти перемены дают мне уверенность, что реформа затронет и законодательные акты, которые до сих пор ограничивают людей в их правах и свободе выбора профессии.

Я верю в свое государство и его рациональный подход. Вижу, что идет диалог, и он приносит плоды. Мы движемся в сторону перемен, и я убеждена, что они будут положительными для всех.

С.М.: Последний вопрос. Оглядываясь на твой путь от общественной защитницы до экспертки сообщества, которая подает в парламент проект законодательных изменений, расскажи, как ты к такому пришла? Кто/что за этим стоит?

Е.К.: За всеми нашими усилиями всегда стоят люди — люди, которые нуждаются в помощи и поддержке. Я сама женщина, живущая с ВИЧ, и, хотя напрямую не сталкивалась с криминализацией, в моей жизни было немало примеров стигмы и дискриминации. Один из тех, кого я защищала в суде, теперь стал сотрудником нашей организации. И такие истории дают мне силы и вдохновение двигаться дальше.

В глубине души я мечтаю об идеальном мире. Никто не может запретить мне хотя бы пытаться сделать его таким. Моя главная мотивация всегда была в том, чтобы люди, живущие с ВИЧ, больше не сталкивались с дискриминацией и стигмой, чтобы их права уважались и не нарушались только из-за их диагноза.

Я убеждена, что государство должно работать в интересах тех, кто в нем живет. И сегодня у нас действительно есть хорошие перспективы. Мы видим наличие политической воли и гражданского общества, которое активно участвует в продвижении изменений и имеет реальный вес. Это благоприятное время для перемен.

Государство проявляет желание услышать нас и понять наши проблемы. Более того, мы не просто говорим о проблемах, мы помогаем находить решения, и этот процесс становится для меня дополнительной мотивацией. Когда нас слушают и действительно слышат — это вдохновляет. Это значит, что наши усилия имеют значение и ведут к изменениям.

Приказ Министра здравоохранения Республики Узбекистан

Об утверждении Перечня видов профессиональной деятельности, запрещенных для лиц, зараженных вирусом иммунодефицита человека

[Зарегистрирован Министерством юстиции Республики Узбекистан 07 мая 2014 года. Регистрационный № 2581]

Приказ Министра здравоохранения Республики Узбекистан

[Зарегистрирован Министерством юстиции Республики Узбекистан 19 февраля 2024 года. Регистрационный № 3497]

Виды профессиональной деятельности, запрещенные лицам, инфицированным вирусом иммунодефицита человека

СПИСОК

1. Профессии, связанные с заготовкой и переработкой крови и ее компонентов.

2. Профессии, связанные с получением крови и ее компонентов, спермы и грудного молока.

3. Профессии, связанные с переливанием крови.

4. Профессии, связанные со следующими медицинскими процедурами: инъекции; диализ; венесекция; катетеризация.

5. Профессии, связанные с косметическими и пластическими операциями.

6. Профессии, связанные со стоматологическими процедурами.

7. Профессии, связанные с родами.

8. Профессии, связанные с абортами и другими гинекологическими операциями.

9. Профессии, связанные с прической и бритьем, пирсингом, маникюром, педикюром и татуировкой.

Виды профессиональной деятельности, запрещенные лицам, инфицированным вирусом иммунодефицита человека

СПИСОК

1. Профессии, связанные с заготовкой, переработкой и переливанием крови человека и (или) ее компонентов.

2. Профессии, связанные со всеми видами хирургии.

3. Профессии, связанные с родами.

4. Профессии, связанные со следующими медицинскими процедурами: диализ; венесекция; катетеризация.

US: Advocates seek to modernise HIV laws and HIV prevention education

Experts call for modernized HIV education and decriminalization in Oklahoma

Experts said they hope to finally get legislation across the finish line to improve how students are taught about HIV and to decriminalize exposure.

Oklahoma’s current guidelines for HIV education were passed in 1987 and have not been updated since, but previous efforts to modernize them have fallen short amid misinformation and difficulties dispelling outdated stigmas surrounding the virus.

“A lot has happened since 1987 in the field of HIV that our education mandate just doesn’t include,” said Sara Raines, a sexual health educator with the Oklahoma City-County Health Department. “So not only was it written in a way that’s outdated, but it just leaves a lot out. … I think, especially when you look at Oklahoma’s current HIV epidemic, public school education is a great way that we can start making progress in other areas.”

Raines said Oklahoma is one of seven states the federal government has identified as having disproportionately high HIV diagnoses in rural areas. She also said most new HIV diagnoses in Oklahoma in 2022 were for people under the age of 34, which is on par with national trends.

“We tend to think of HIV being something that happens in other places, but it’s here as well,” she said. “Something that is unique about Oklahoma’s epidemic is that we have a pretty disproportionate rural burden of HIV.”

Oklahoma is also one of 34 states that have laws criminalizing HIV exposure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nicole McAfee, executive director of Freedom Oklahoma, said these laws are “not rooted in science.” Freedom Oklahoma is a group advocating for LGBTQ+ Oklahomans.

With modern advancements in medicine, people living with HIV who are receiving treatment can have “an undetectable viral load” which means they cannot transmit HIV sexually. Oklahoma’s state statute does not reflect these advancements.

McAfee, who uses they/them pronouns, said efforts to decriminalize the virus usually come with two parts: repealing criminalization in statute and offering a pathway for those who have been incarcerated through the law, potentially through resentencing.

“I think as we think about how we address the harms of criminalization,” they said. “It’s been really important for us, rooted in work we’re doing with the community, that in addition to repealing and thinking about how the state goes forward, we also think about steps to begin to repair harm done to communities who’ve been disproportionately targeted by criminalization.”

State law requires prevention education on HIV and AIDS, but the language of the statute is outdated, Raines said.

The state Legislature has seen few efforts to update the curriculum standards, but most have been unsuccessful. In 2019, the Legislature sent a bill to the governor’s desk that would have modernized HIV education but Gov. Kevin Stitt vetoed it.

Since then, McAfee said, the state has seen efforts to lower standards for sexual education in general, or to remove it completely. When it comes to HIV education, McAfee said some lawmakers and law enforcement have demonstrated hesitation for change because of misinformation.

“I hope that as we continue to create spaces like this and folks continue to see the harm that we will see more legislators join in introducing bills specifically to address HIV modernization,” they said.

Freedom Oklahoma will be hosting an informational session at the Oklahoma Capitol Wednesday. McAfee said it’s intended to “share information and continue trying to educate folks, both in the Legislature and in the general public, about why HIV modernization is a priority.”

Sens. Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, and Carri Hicks, D-Oklahoma City, are set to attend the session.