At SADC-PF parliamentarians meeting in South Africa, Patrick Eba of UNAIDS says HIV criminalization is a setback to regional AIDS efforts

The criminalisation of HIV simply undermines the remarkable global scientific advances and proven public health strategies that could open the path to vanquishing AIDS by 2030, Patrick Eba from the human rights and law division of UNAIDS told SADC-PF parliamentarians meeting in South Africa.

Restating a remark made by Justice Edwin Cameron of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, Eba said: “HIV criminalisation makes it more difficult for those at risk of HIV to access testing and prevention. There is simply no evidence that it works. It undermines the remarkable scientific advances and proven public health strategies that open the path to vanquishing AIDS by 2030.”

SADC-PF has undertaken, as part of its commitment to advocacy for sexual reproductive health rights, an ambitious 90-90-90 initiative in east and southern Africa, with the help of the media, to ensure that all people living with HIV should know their status by 2020; that by 2020 90 percent of all people diagonised with HIV will receive sustained antiretroviral therapy; and that by 2020 90 percent of all people living with HIV and receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression.

He implored parliamentarians from SADC-PF member states to advocate for laws that would decriminalise HIV after he noted several African countries had HIV-specific criminal laws that resulted in arrests and prosecutions of those convicted of spreading HIV intentionally.

Eba said calls for the criminalisation of intentional or wilful spreading of HIV stem from the fact there are high rates of rape and sexual violence, and most notably in post-conflict countries such as the DRC there exist promises of retribution, incapacitation, deterrence and rehabilitation.

He gave an example of one case of miscarriage of justice involving a woman in Gabon who was wrongfully arrested after a man accused her of having infected him with HIV, but after spending several months in detention she was actually found to be HIV-negative after she went for testing.

Eba appealed to SADC-PF parliamentarians to consider decriminalisation of HIV on the basis that antiretroviral treatment (ART) has a 96 percent rate in reducing the risk of HIV transmission.

“End criminalisation to end AIDS,” he implored SADC-PF parliamentarians who included Agnes Limbo of the RDP, Ida Hoffmann of Swapo and Ignatius Shixwameni of APP, all delegated by Namibia to the conference.

Eba also referred to the motion unanimously adopted in November 2015 that was moved by Duma Boko of Botswana and that was seconded by Ahmed Shaik Imam of South Africa who reaffirmed SADC member states’ obligation to respect, fulfil and promote human rights in all endevours undertaken for the prevention and treatment of HIV.

That motion had also called on SADC member states to consider rescinding and reviewing punitive laws specific to the prosecution of HIV transmission, exposure and non-disclosure. It also reiterated the role by parliamentarians to enact laws that support evidence-based HIV prevention and treatment interventions that conform with regional and international human rights frameworks.

Eba said since HIV infection is now a chronic treatable health condition, no charges of “murder” or “manslaughter” should arise and that HIV non-disclosure and exposure should not be criminalised in the absence of transmission, and that significant risk of transmission should be based on best available scientific and medical evidence.

On the other hand, he said, there is no significant risk in cases of consistent condom use practice or other forms of safer sex and effective HIV treatment.

The SADC-PF joint sessions also addressed the issues of criminalisation of termination of pregnancy. The joint sessions ended on Thursday with a raft of recommendations for the ministerial meetings.

Originally published in New Era.

US: Keynote speakers announced for the HIV Is Not a Crime II National Training Academy

May 6, 2016: In just a little over a week, theHIV Is Not a Crime II National Training Academy will convene at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. There is still time toregister to train alongside committed advocates building an intersectional movement to end HIV criminalization! The Training Academy will take place from May 17 – 20, 2016.

Positive Women’s Network – USA (PWN-USA) and the SERO Project — two networks of people living with HIV — have joined forces to organize the Training Academy. We are thrilled to announce three exciting keynote speakers at the event:

  • HIV community icon Mary Fisher, who spoke about her experiences living with HIV at the Republican National Convention (RNC), back in 1992;
  • Longtime advocate Joel Goldman of the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation; and
  • Colorado State Senator Pat Steadman, who in March introduced a bill into the state senate that would effectively repeal or significantly amend the three HIV-specific criminal codes, remove sentence enhancements for knowledge of HIV status, and modernize STI statutes to include HIV.

See below for biographical information for our speakers, in addition to highlights from the event’s dynamic program!

The Training Academy will convene in the Deep South — the region most heavily affected by not only HIV, but many other symptoms of a history steeped in injustice and trauma.

Plenary session topics include:

  • What’s Working? Where Are We Struggling? Focus on State Strategies: Successes & Challenges
  • AntiBlackness & HIV Criminalization: Grounding Ourselves in Racial Justice 

Breakout workshop titles include:

  • Activists, Advocates and Lawyers: Collaborating to a Common Goal
  • Joining Forces: Mobilizing Feminists to Challenge Unjust Prosecutions
  • Building Youth Capacity to Effect Policy Change Through an Intergenerational Model

Evening events include:

  • Consent: HIV Non­Disclosure and Sexual Assault Law, Last Men Standing, and more (film screenings)
  • Advocacy, Action and Community Building Through Art
  • TIME IS NOT A LINE: (re)Considering our HIV Herstory for Collective Freedom

View the full program of exciting, thought-provoking, movement-building sessions here.

HIV is a human rights issue; criminalization of people living with HIV is a social justice issue. The Training Academy will unite and train advocates living with HIV and allies from across the country on strategies and best practices for repealing laws criminalizing people living with and vulnerable to HIV. The Training Academy will also center the voices of survivors of HIV-related criminal cases and prosecutions.

Come to Huntsville and learn strategies from advocates opposing these unjust laws!   

Originally published in PWN-USA website

US: Teleconference on HIV Criminal Laws on Thursday – May 5, 2016 from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. ET

CHLP, The American Bar Association AIDS Coordinating Committee and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers present a teleconference on HIV Criminal Laws on Thursday, May 5 from 10:30 to 11:30 am ET on HIV Criminal Law for criminal defense lawyers, service providers in the legal, medical and social work communities and people living with HIV.

Sponsoring organizations: The ABA AIDS Coordinating Committee, The Center for HIV Law and Policy, and The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Audience: Criminal defense lawyers, service providers in the legal, medical and social work communities and people living with HIV

Format:  Interactive–speaker presentations followed by audience Q and A

Date and Time:  May 5, 2016 from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. ET

How to Participate: There is NO COST to participate. The morning of the event simply dial the Conference Call number 1 (877) 317-0419 and enter Access Code 2244415. To be sent the documents that will be referenced during the Teleconference please send your e-mail address toidominguez@nacdl.org or anichol@hivlawandpolicy.org

Summary:  Thirty-four U.S. states and territories have criminal statutes that allow prosecutions for allegations of non-disclosure, exposure and (although not required) transmission of the HIV virus. Prosecutions have occurred in at least 39 states under HIV-specific criminal laws or general criminal laws. Most of these laws treat HIV exposure as a felony, and people convicted under these laws are serving sentences as long as 30 years or more. Learn from experts about these laws and how to defend against them.

Opening Remarks:  Norman L. Reimer, Executive Director of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL).

Moderator: Richard A. Wilson, Chair ABA AIDS Coordinating Committee.

Presentation One: Department of Justice Civil Rights Division’s Guide to Reform HIV-Specific Criminal Laws to Align with Scientifically-Supported Factors by Allison Nichol, CHLP Co-Executive Director.

In May 2013 the United States Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division (CRD) issued guidance on how to reform HIV-specific criminal laws to bring them into alignment with current science, from actual routes and risks of transmission to the transformation of HIV treatment and prevention with the development of highly effective antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Presentation Two

Defending Against HIV State Law Prosecutions by Mayo Schreiber, CHLP Deputy Director.

Two recent cases in which CHLP participated, one in Missouri and one in Ohio, will be discussed, along with the HIV criminal statutes in those states. These cases and statutes are illustrative of the fundamental injustice of the statutes as drafted and the punishments provided for violating them. Defense trial and sentencing strategy will be analyzed, including identification of experts and supporting resources, and current thinking on legal challenges to these laws.

A Q&A Session Will Follow.

For more info, go to: http://www.hivlawandpolicy.org/fine-print-blog-news/when-sex-a-crime-and-spit-a-dangerous-weapon-a-teleconference-hiv-criminal-laws

US: The HIV is Not a Crime II Training Academy will take place May 17 – 20, in Huntsville, Alabama

HIV JUSTICE WORLDWIDE
Launch video

(6 min, HJN, UK, 2016)

In April 2016, thanks to generous funding for 2016-18 from the Robert Carr civil society Networks Fund, seven global, regional and national civil society organisations that have worked closely, but informally, together on HIV criminalisation for a number of years, announced a brand new initiative, HIV JUSTICE WORLDWIDE.

HIV JUSTICE WORLDWIDE will enhance and build on contributions its founding partners have previously made: monitoring, informing, connecting and engaging with People Living with HIV networks, civil society organisations and others who advocate against HIV criminalisation, and engaging policy-makers in pursuit of protecting against HIV criminalisation.

The initiative allows us to:

  • Avoid duplication by bringing together the many existing resources on this issue, sharing information and coordinating advocacy efforts.
  • Build broader consensus amongst People Living with HIV networks, civil society, policymakers, key scientists/clinicians, criminal justice actors and funders that ‘ending AIDS’ will not happen unless we put an end to HIV criminalisation.
  • Create new energy and action, ‘riding the wave’ of recent advocacy successes, pushing for commitment to change at the highest level.
  • Develop and strengthen much-needed civil society capacity to ensure continued advocacy against HIV criminalisation, and to sustain this capacity in order to further advocate against related punitive laws, policies and practices aimed at people living with HIV and which impede the HIV response.

US: Republican Senator highlights Florida’s “archaic” HIV-specific criminal law, advocates for law reform in 2017

Last Thursday, March 10th Senator Rene Garcia introduced an amendment in the Florida Senate to an amendment of a bill he was co-sponsoring (SB 314) to highlight the damage done to the HIV response by the state’s overly broad HIV criminalisation law.

Senator Garcia, a Republican, withdrew the amendment following his three minute intervention, but noted that he intends to work with the Senate in the next legislative session, 2017, in order to reform Florida’s overly broad HIV non-disclosure law.

In order words, the amendment was presented strategically in order to give the issue of HIV criminalisation some exposure to his colleagues.

Tami Haught of the Sero Project, who is working closely with colleagues in Florida to modernise the law, noted:

“We are delighted that Senator Garcia is taking leadership on this issue and look forward to an ongoing dialogue. Sero and our Florida partners will be soliciting comments and a legal review of what Senator Garcia has proposed as well as continuing to organize statewide to build support for change. We have a lot of work to do between now and next year’s legislative session.”

Watch Senator Garcia speak about why it is crucial to reform Florida’s HIV criminalisation law below.

Mexico: Human Rights Commission files motion before Supreme Court arguing Veracruz law criminalising 'wilful transmission' of HIV and STIs is unconstitutional

Because the amendment to Article 158 of the Criminal Code of Veracruz, called “contagion” criminalizes the transmission of sexually transmitted infections, and establishes a sentence ranging from 6 months to 5 years in prison and a fine of up to 50 days’ pay for those who “willfully” infecting another person sexually transmitted disease, a contravention of Article 1 of the Constitution of the United States Mexicans, at 24 of the American Convention on Human Rights and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the National Commission on Human Rights (CNDH) filed a motion before the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation.

That article, which provides between these infections to HIV and human papillomavirus, he was published in the Official Journal of Veracruz on 1 December and, according to the CNDH, is discriminatory because it “generates    a    differentiation    unnecessary    and unjustified that becomes discriminatory. ”

This, because, argues the CNDH, the new content of the article “generates a discriminatory treatment in Subject to the people, and that criminalize putting willful in danger of disease transmission, generates two assumptions: that it is sexually transmitted infections and cases of serious disease. ”

According to the document, this situation leads to “different treatment for sexually transmitted infections with respect any other illness, by the than is rock specifically the condition health perpetrator when he suffers STDs, generating    so    a    distinction    legal    between    Who    suffer    a    disease acquired by sexually transmitted Y those with any other disease acquired through diverse. ”

In addition, it is emphasized that the amendment does not meet the objective of preventing argued transmission of STIs against women and girls, finding themselves in vulnerable situations, but caused a differentiation based on the condition of true kind from infections, in East case from sexually transmitted, and describe them as serious, a fact that is not real, because not all infections of this court are serious.

Thus, the declaration of unconstitutionality of the article is requested and all those rules than are related.

Thus, the CNDH responded to the request of the Multisectoral Group on HIV / AIDS and STIs of Veracruz and other civil society organizations, which have stated that “the international guidelines on HIV and Human Rights based on evidence scientific point to legislate and punish not prevent new infections or reduce women’s vulnerability and what we do accomplish is a negative impact on public health and human rights. ”

It is expected that in the coming weeks the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation attracts unconstitutionality for discussion and analysis.

Register now for ARASA’s online course on HIV criminalisation; deadline March 8th

Applications are now invited for participation in the AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA) 2016 online training course on the criminalisation of HIV transmission, exposure and non-disclosure.

Civil society, policymakers and service providers – including health care providers and law enforcement officials – working in Africa are eligible for the course, which will last for six weeks from 14 March 2016 to 22 April 2016, and require four hours’ commitment per week.

The deadline for applications is 8th March 2016.

More details below and on ARASA’s website.

Download the full announcement here.

ABOUT THE COURSE

The criminalisation of HIV transmission, exposure and non-disclosure, which is often referred to as ‘HIV criminalisation’, is the unjust application of criminal law based solely on HIV status – either by enacting and applying HIV-specific criminal laws, or by applying general criminal laws exclusively or disproportionately against people with HIV.

Law makers who try to enact HIV-specific laws to criminalise HIV transmission are often driven by public pressure to be seen to be doing something about HIV in their country without stopping to consider the effects of HIV criminalisation on the spread of HIV.

Human rights experts argue that most countries already have criminal laws, such as the laws against assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, that can be used to deal with intentional transmission of HIV and therefore there is no need to create new laws to deal specifically with HIV.

This online course will introduce participants to information about the criminalisation of HIV transmission, exposure and non-disclosure, the negative impact it has on the human rights of people living with HIV and key populations and on universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. The focus is on providing knowledge and skills so that participants can identify harmful HIV-specific transmission, exposure and non-disclosure laws and advocate for the removal of these laws.

COURSE OUTCOMES

After taking the course, students will be able to:

  • Understand what criminalisation of HIV transmission, exposure and non- disclosure is and the difference between transmission, exposure and non- disclosure
  • Identify the links between human rights, universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support, and the negative impact of criminalisation of HIV transmission, exposure and non-disclosure
  • Understand the disproportionate impact of criminalisation on women and key populations
  • Understand international and regional guidance on criminalisation of HIV transmission, exposure and non-disclosure and be aware of model laws and other instruments that can be used as advocacy tools to advocate against HIV criminalisation
  • Advocate for laws that do not criminalise HIV transmission, exposure and non- disclosure and respect the rights of people living with HIV and promote universal access or for the repeal or amendment of laws that do criminalise.

WHO MAY APPLY?

In the selection of participants preference will be given to persons who:

  • Are staff members of civil society organisations working on HIV, TB and human rights in African countries;
  • Are fluent in English;
  • Have existing skills and experience in human rights, TB, HIV and/or Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR);
  • Have daily access to the internet as well as access to a computer;
  • Are committed to participating fully in all the elements of the short course and carrying out training and advocacy for increased access to HIV and TB servicesfor prisoners; and
  • Are committed to promoting a rights-based response to HIV and TB in their own countries and in the region, and to engage in regional collaboration for advocacy.

HOW TO APPLY

Send us:

  • A one page letter of motivation, setting out why you feel that you would benefit from participating in the short course and outlining how you will use the skills acquired during the course;
  • Your resume / CV; and
  • A letter of support from the organisation you are currently working with / affiliated to.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

All applications must be received by no later than close of business 8 March 2016. Kindly note that applications received after the closing date will not be considered.

Application should be submitted by email to courses@arasa.info (and copy Jacob Segale (jacob@arasa.info) and Nthabiseng Mokoena (nthabiseng@arasa.info)). Successful applicants will be notified by no later than 11 March 2016. Should you not receive any feedback from us by 14 March 2016, kindly consider your application to have been unsuccessful.

ABOUT ARASA

Established in 2002, ARASA is a regional partnership of 89 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working together to promote a human rights-based response to HIV and TB in Southern and East Africa, through capacity strengthening and advocacy.

ARASA’s purpose is to promote the rule of law and respect for human rights to safeguard the health status of all, especially of people living with HIV and TB and key populations at higher risk of HIV and TB, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people, sex workers, people who use drugs and prisoners. ARASA’s overall objective is to ensure that legal, policy and social environments exist in Southern and East Africa (18 countries) in which people living with HIV and TB and key populations most at risk (prisoners, LGBTI persons, sex workers and people who use drugs) access acceptable, affordable and quality sexual and reproductive health and rights, HIV and TB prevention, treatment and care services.

HIV is Not a Crime Training Academy now requesting workshop submissions

The second HIV is Not a Crime meeting, now a Training Academy, will take place between May 17 – 20, 2016 at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

The Training Academy will unite and train advocates living with HIV and allies from North America on laws, policies and practices criminalising people living with and vulnerable to HIV and on strategies and best practices for improving legal environments.

There will be three tracks, focused on

1) Effective and Accountable Leadership,

2) Rights, Policy  and Justice, and

3) Campaign Planning, Strategy and Messaging.

Workshops will help advance informed and effective grassroots organising and coalition-building, providing participants with concrete tools and resources to work on state-level strategies when they return home.

Advocates working on HIV criminalisation in the United States, Canada or Mexico are encouraged to submit an application to conduct a workshop at the Training Academy and contribute to this growing and important movement.

Deadline for submissions is Friday, February 26, 2016 by 5:00 pm CST (6:00 pm EST, 3:00 PST).

Descriptions of workshop tracks are below:

Effective and Accountable Leadership

This track will focus on building relevant and current leadership skills for an effective and intersectional criminalisation movement.

Sessions considered may include coalition-building, development of individual leadership skills or emphasise disproportionately impacted communities.

Rights, Policy, and Justice

This track will focus on policy issues, criminal justice, and advocacy strategies relevant to disproportionately criminalized communities.

Submissions on issues specific to communities targeted by policing practices due to race, gender identity, sexual orientation, substance use, immigration status, and other forms of discrimination are encouraged.

Campaign Planning, Strategy and Messaging

This track will provide resources, tools and skills advocates need to successfully develop and implement a state-level campaign to repeal or modernize criminalization laws.

Submissions may focus on the “nuts-and-bolts” required for organizing, including messaging research and positioning, how to best utilize research to persuade media, policy leaders and legislators and creation and execution of a campaign plan.

After reviewing proposals, conference organizers may invite session organizers to collaborate on a session.  All presenters are required to register for the conference. Acceptance of a proposal does not guarantee a scholarship or coverage of any of the necessary registration or travel expenses.

We expect to receive more breakout session proposals than we can actually accommodate.  When making selection decisions, we have many considerations to balance, including our desire to elevate diverse leadership and new organizations and voices into the mix at each Training Academy.  Please read the criteria below for what we are and are not looking for.

Proposals that meet all or most of these criteria will be given the most favorable consideration:

  • Participatory:  Proposed session is interactive, with lots of two-way communication between participants and presenters and hands-on engaging activities.
  • Timely: Proposal demonstrates an understanding of current criminal justice, policing, and criminalization environment
  • Intersectional: Proposal demonstrates an intersectional analysis
  • Practical:  Session proposes to leave participants with useful tools, including innovative strategies, exemplary models, powerful narratives, and accessible artistic and cultural expressions.
  • Action-Oriented:  Session connects to active issue campaigns, grassroots community organizing, and current struggles and/or movement building efforts.
  • Intergenerational:  The content is relevant to, and encouraging of, the participation of youth and young people, as well as multi-generational strategies.
  • Geographic Diversity:  For national audience, we want the content and facilitators to relate to different geographic areas, especially the South.
  • Multiracial:   Sessions include a multiracial and intersectional analysis and approach — even if there is a mono-racial emphasis.  A multiracial team of facilitators is also encouraged.

Breakout Sessions should not consist of:

  • Lectures, presentations of academic papers or mostly theory, or panels that primarily involve people talking at others.
  • Sessions that do not have a connection to people working in local communities.
  • Sessions that focus primarily on a problem, without equal or greater attention to proposed solutions.
  • Sessions by individuals not engaged with, connected or accountable to social justice organizations or communities.

Important Notes:

The deadline for submission is Friday, February 26, 2016 by 5:00 pm CST (6:00 pm EST, 3:00 PST).  You will receive notice of acceptance on Friday, April 1, 2016.

Applicants may submit up to two workshops for consideration.  For each 90-minute workshop, applicants should follow the suggested format below.  Workshops submissions must be one page in length and be in a font 11 point or over but not smaller.  Your submission will not be reviewed if it is more than one page (8.5 x 11) in length or if the font is smaller than 11 point.  There is no limit to the number of total presenters on a workshop.

Workshop submissions will be reviewed and evaluated by a volunteer Program Work Group on the following criteria:  1) alignment with track description, SERO and PWN-USA values, and Training Academy goals 2) clarity of description 3) appropriateness of suggested format.

We strongly encourage applicants to consider formats that engage participants, rather than simply presenting information.  In addition, the program committee will review overall workshop acceptances with an eye towards diversity of presenters, particularly in demographics, geography, skills, and expertise.

Every proposal must include:

  • FIRST, LAST NAME OF LEAD PRESENTER(S):
  • FIRST, LAST NAME(S) OF ADDITIONAL PRESENTER(S):
  • EMAIL ADDRESS/PHONE NUMBER FOR LEAD PRESENTER:
  • TITLE & ORGANIZATIONAL AFFILIATION FOR ALL PRESENTERS:
  • WORKSHOP TRACK: 1) Effective and Accountable Leadership 2) Rights, Policy & Justice; 3) Campaign Planning, Strategy and Messaging
  • PROPOSED WORKSHOP TITLE:
  • WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION:
  • WORKSHOP OBJECTIVE(S):
  • FORMAT OF WORKSHOP: Describe how you and/or presenter(s) will conduct the workshop, i.e. presentation style, opportunity for discussion and/or interactive activities/exercises.

Email workshop submissions by Friday, February 26, 2016 to:  conference@seroproject.com

All other questions regarding the Summit should be emailed to Tami Haught at:  tami.haught@seroproject.com

US: Second HIV Is Not a Crime Conference, ‘a national training academy’ for HIV criminalisation advocates, announced for June 2016 (Press Release)

After a very successful inaugural HIV Is Not a Crime National Conference last year, the SERO Project and Positive Women’s Network-USA are pleased to announce that the planning process is underway for a second national conference to support repeal and modernization of laws criminalizing HIV non-disclosure, perceived or potential exposure and transmission, to be held in June 2016.

HIV is Not a Crime II, to be held in June 2016, will unite and train advocates living with HIV and allies from across the country on laws criminalizing people living with HIV and on strategies and best practices for repealing such laws. Skills-building training, with an emphasis on grassroots organizing, advocacy, coalition-building and campaign planning, will leave participants with concrete tools and resources to work on state-level strategies when they return home.

For this training academy, organizers will also emphasize movement building with other decriminalization and criminal justice reform groups.  “It’s time to look at the whole context of mass incarceration, racist policing practices, drug policy, sex work policies, and the ways that LGBT and immigrant folks are disproportionately vulnerable in criminalization proceedings, as we consider strategies for repeal and modernization,” says Naina Khanna, executive director of Positive Women’s Network – USA.

Advocates say last year’s conference invigorated on the ground rights-based advocacy led by communities living with and impacted by HIV.  “Last year’s HIV is Not a Crime Conference was great because it brought together advocates and people working on changing HIV criminalization laws to brainstorm best practices for people to take home to implement a plan for their state. This was incredibly helpful for us in Tennessee, and really gave us the boost we needed to work on our plan to change the laws here,” states Larry Frampton of Tennessee AIDS Advocacy Network.

“The HIV Prevention Justice Alliance is thrilled to be part of this process again that prioritizes PLHIV, builds power, and ultimately pushes the momentum from the first HIV is Not a Crime conference and this past year in a concerted organizing effort to end these laws across the U.S. in 2016,” says Suraj Madoori, manager of the HIV Prevention Justice Alliance.

“I thought last year’s conference was one of the best discussions in HIV in a long time.  It was very powerful to participate in a conference organized by people living with HIV and to hear about their personal experiences around disclosure, prosecution and criminalization,” commented Marsha Martin, Director of the Urban Coalition for HIV/AIDS Prevention Services (UCHAPS). “We have to take on criminalization if we are going to bring about an end to the epidemic. That’s why continuing conferences like this one is so important–and necessary.”

“HIV is Not a Crime II will provide an opportunity for people living with HIV and their closest allies to define their priorities and agenda, educate and mobilize each other and their communities, and further strengthen the community of PLHIV advocates.  Michael Callen, one of the authors of the Denver Principles, used to say there was a ‘special magic’ when people with HIV worked together to organize and that is as true today as it was 30 years ago.” states Sean Strub, Executive Director of SERO Project.

Get involved in making HIV is Not a Crime a success!

The planning partners are currently seeking volunteers for five workgroups, as well as financial support for the conference. To read about and join a working group, click here.

Are you interested in providing financial support for this important event? Please contact Sean Strub, SERO Project or Naina Khanna at Positive Women’s Network – USA for more information.

Questions? Please contact Tami Haught, SERO Organizer and Training Coordinator.