Canada: Latest unjust HIV non-disclosure conviction highlights everything that’s wrong with Canada’s approach

Analysis: Canada’s newest sex offenders

On March 1, a 29-year-old indigenous woman in Manitoba was sentenced to prison for the crime of aggravated sexual assault. More than four years ago, Marjorie Schenkels had sex without a condom with a friend on three occasions. Schenkels did not disclose the fact that she is HIV-positive. Schenkels, a survivor of sexual violence in both her family and relationships, is now registered as a sex offender and will spend the next two years in jail.

This is where the Supreme Court of Canada, and prosecutors, have brought us with their overly broad use of criminal law when it comes to HIV. Because of a series of much-criticized decisions that equate HIV non-disclosure before sex with sexual assault, indigenous women living with HIV are now a new face of sexual offender in this country.

Schenkels’ case is a window into this miscarriage of justice. As in many other cases of HIV non-disclosure, the sentencing judge found that there was no lie, manipulation or exploitation by Schenkels. Rather, her silence was the result of fear and denial. Nor was there any evidence that she actually transmitted the virus to the complainant who has since tested positive for HIV. But because the Supreme Court ruled that HIV non-disclosure before sex can amount to fraud invalidating consent to sex, people living with HIV can be convicted of aggravated sexual assault — an offence usually reserved for the most violent cases of sexual assault — even if the sex was neither forced nor coerced, there was no intention to harm and HIV was not transmitted.

Criminalizing HIV non-disclosure is often perceived as a means of protecting women. This perception is reinforced by the fact that the charge used to prosecute people for not disclosing the fact they have HIV is sexual assault. But criminalizing HIV non-disclosure does not protect women from HIV, nor from gender-based violence nor the inequality in which it is rooted. What it does do is put women living with HIV — especially those in abusive relationships — at increased risk of violence, abuse and prosecution. For many indigenous women, particularly those surviving a legacy of colonization and the intergenerational effects of residential schools, the overly broad criminalization of HIV non-disclosure has only institutionalized another form of violence against them.

As of today, at least 17 women living with HIV have been prosecuted for HIV non-disclosure in Canada. Most of them were already living on the margins, already facing a greater risk of acquiring HIV and making it even more challenging to disclose their status. Some of those women, like Schenkels, are indigenous; also like her, some are survivors of sexual or other violence. Many were and are living in poverty or with little income security. Some had precarious immigration status. Add to this marginalization the dilemma of revealing a heavily stigmatized status such as being HIV-positive or facing criminal charges for one of the most serious offences in the Criminal Code. This bind does not help or protect women.

When a person does not disclose they have HIV, it is usually not about asserting force over another person in order to gain sexual gratification, but rather the result of fear of violence or other harm, rejection or denial. By associating HIV non-disclosure with sexual assault, we are both harming people living with HIV and seriously undermining the law of sexual assault. These concerns are not limited to the HIV community. Feminist scholars and advocates are also questioning the value of such use of the law, as captured in a new documentary film, Consent: HIV non-disclosure and the law of sexual assault. (see below; the image above is a still from the film).

As one of the film’s experts asks, “What does it do to our understanding of sexual assault law as a vehicle to promote women’s equality if the new faces of sex offenders are young, racialized, aboriginal or street-involved women?” It is a bitter irony that Consent was publicly screened in Winnipeg the day of Schenkels’ sentencing hearing.

Schenkels’ case brings Canadians, once again, face to face with the cruelty of a justice system that not only fails to protect women from sexual violence, but also ensnares the most vulnerable, despite their efforts to overcome their struggles. Schenkels is taking responsibility for her life and her former actions. She is married and a caregiver to her partner’s child, and she is accessing HIV care. Even the sentencing judge acknowledged she was considered “a viable candidate for community supervision” rather than imprisonment. Nevertheless, she will spend the next two years in an institution notorious for its limited resources for addressing the health needs of its population, especially those living with HIV. It’s a tragic illustration of how equating HIV non-disclosure with sexual assault makes women less safe and simply multiplies the forms of systemic violence that women living with HIV suffer.

Cécile Kazatchkine is a senior policy analyst and Vajdon Sohaili is director of communications for the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network. Laverne Gervais is the project co-ordinator of Sisters of Fire at Ka Ni Kanichihk.

This piece was originally published in the Winnipeg Free Press.

Consent: HIV non-disclosure and sexual assault law from AIDSLAW on Vimeo.

US: Powerful new report on impact of criminal justice system on LGBT people highlights unjust HIV-related prosecutions; lawmaker calls for repeal of Michigan's 'outdated' HIV-specific criminal law

A new report from the independent Movement Advancement Project in Washington DC is shining a light on the plight of LGBT people caught up in the nation’s criminal justice system — and it is not pretty.

“It used to be a crime to be LGBT in the United States, and while police are no longer raiding gay bars, LGBT people, especially LGBT people of color, are still disproportionately pushed into the criminal justice system. They are treated unfairly within the system and in correctional settings, and face extraordinary challenges in rebuilding their lives,” said Ineke Mushovic, Executive Director of MAP.

The report finds that twice as many people incarcerated identify as LGBT or gender non-conforming than Americans who identify as such. The numbers are even more skewed in relation to juveniles, the report found.

“I’m glad that MAP is bringing to light the critical issue of LGBT people in the criminal justice system,” State Rep. Jon Hoadley, D-Kalamazoo, said in an interview with BTL. Hoadley is one of two openly gay state lawmakers working in Lansing. “This report shows that our work is not done.”

He noted that Michigan continues to have laws which are used to discriminate against members of the LGBT and HIV affected communities. He noted the child welfare system in the state continues to foster discrimination and noted Michigan’s HIV-specific criminal laws. Michigan adopted a new law last year which allows private, religious adoption agencies to refuse to help otherwise qualified adoptive parents based on “sincerely held religious beliefs.”

State Sen. Steve Bieda, D-Warren, said the report was important. He’s been working with the GOP majority to address criminal justice reform in the state as the only Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“We need to make sure that justice is blind,” Bieda said in a phone interview. “We need to make sure that justice is actually just.”

He called for a repeal of Michigan’s HIV-specific criminal law, which he called “outdated,” and also said the state needs to remove obsolete laws that are no longer enforceable because they have been declared unconstitutional.

“When we’re talking about reforming a complexing system, like this, you need a yes and strategy,” said Hoadley. He called on lawmakers to repeal obsolete laws as well as laws — such as the gross indecency laws — which criminalize otherwise consensual sexual activity between adults.

Bieda said he would like to have representatives of MAP come to a Senate Judiciary Committee to brief state lawmakers on the findings of the report and possible solutions. Hoadley applauded that idea.

“This would be a great opportunity to have a joint committee meeting,” between House and Senate Judiciary Committees, he said. “We could also have policy meetings on this.”

The chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, State Sen. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, said the Senate cannot solve all the issues with the criminal justice system but did call for more training by law enforcement related to LGBT related issues. He’s a former county sheriff.

“I also support clean slate legislation,” Jones said. Those laws would allow those convicted of non-violent crimes to wipe their records clean after a set amount of time.

Hoadley said Jones’ idea was certainly on track to addressing reintegration of those convicted of crimes and sentenced to prison into society.

“We have to really think about how we integrate people into society after their rehabilitation,” he said. He discussed working with a person living with HIV who was convicted under Michigan’s HIV-specific law. That person was being forced to disclose their HIV status as a result of having to disclose the felony conviction to potential employers. It significantly limited that person’s job prospects.

MAP officials were pleased to hear Michigan lawmakers were taking the report seriously.

“A goal of this report is to lift up the ways in which LGBT people interact with the criminal justice system to ensure comprehensive reforms,” said Naomi Goldberg, Policy Analyst for the Movement Advancement Project. “Legislative efforts to reduce recidivism rates, such as clean slate legislation combined with vital protections against discrimination, would greatly improve the lives of formerly incarcerated LGBT people. And training, ongoing education and improved procedures for law enforcement, court staff, prison and staff, and probation and parole officers would greatly improve the safety of LGBT people.”

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.

Stop the Prague Public Health Authority’s persecution and intimidation of people living with HIV [Press release]

Pan-European Networks of communities of people living with and affected by HIV, doctors and scientists call upon the Government of the Czech Republic to immediately stop the Prague Public Health Authority’s persecution and intimidation of people living with HIV, and to return to evidence-based and proven practices in HIV prevention, testing and care in the Czech Republic.

Brussels, 19 February 2016 –  The signatories of this open letter, representing communities of people living with, and affected by HIV, doctors and scientists addressing HIV and co-infections in Europe, are extremely concerned that the Prague Public Health Authority has initiated a police investigation into the sex lives of 30 men living with HIV on the sole grounds that these men have been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection (STI).

We understand that the Czech police are currently conducting investigations and are considering pressing charges against these men claiming that they have violated the provisions of Sections 152 and 153 of the Czech Criminal Code.

There is no evidence that punitive approaches to regulating the consensual sexual behaviour of people with living HIV are an effective HIV prevention or public health tool, but there is evidence that such approaches can be counterproductive by further stigmatising people with HIV, sending those in need of testing and treatment underground, harming individual and public health.

In addition, the release of medical information to the police appears to be a grave violation of personal freedoms of individuals living in the Czech Republic. The initiation of criminal prosecution against people living with HIV for alleged intentional gross bodily harm – despite the lack of a single complainant – raises grave concerns regarding the inappropriate application of criminal law to people living with HIV.

We also understand that a number of non-governmental organizations have recently spoken out against the acts of the Prague Public Health Authority and subsequent police investigation and they will approach the Czech liaison at the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Please also note that the responsible UNAIDS representative has already been informed and will receive further briefing from us.

With this letter we express our outrage at these human rights violations, and support the groups within the Czech Republic who initially raised objections and are working to support both people with HIV and the public health of all those living in the country.

Our main objections to the recent development are based on several arguments:

  • It violates the fundamental human right to personal integrity and privacy (Art 7 Sec. 1 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms), and breaches the Czech Republic’s international obligations under the existing National HIV/AIDS Strategy;
  • It is counterproductive to public health, ignoring well established WHO and UNAIDS recommendations on appropriate use of public health and criminal law as it relates to HIV. Evidence shows that criminalisation of HIV non-disclosure, potential or perceived exposure or non-intentional transmission deter people from getting tested and force them to hide their HIV status and/or sexual orientation, thus reducing opportunities for treatment which greatly reduces infectiousness.
  • There is a substantial body of evidence to show that the overly broad HIV criminalisation, in any form, is harmful for both individuals and society as it leads to increased latency of the epidemic, deters people from getting tested and treated, and thus ultimately contributes to a growing epidemic. We recognize that there has been a constant and alarming increase in the rate of new HIV infections in Europe in the last ten years. However, the active discrimination and violation of the human rights of any group of society will not contribute to the curbing of the epidemic.
  • The proposed prosecution of people living with HIV for alleged intentional spread of infectious diseases, or in fact the transfer of any health-related data of individual from the health care system to law enforcement organisations is potentially a violation of the European Union’s Data Protection Directive.

We demand that the Government of the Czech Republic adheres to the international principles and treaties, and scientific evidence universally accepted in the practice of HIV prevention, and we also demand that the current level of HIV care in the country is maintained and improved to assure at-risk groups feel that getting tested for HIV is and should be a reasonable decision for them. Nothing is as effective in linking to and retention in care than disseminating the right information, and fighting stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV, or any other groups such as men having sex with men. The active discrimination and legal persecution of people with HIV is in diametrical opposition to this evidence.

The signatories will continue to support local non-governmental organisations and other actors in their efforts to prevent HIV criminalization becoming a public health policy. We call on the Government of Czech Republic to ensure that the Prague Public Health Authority reverses this policy and ends police investigations of people with HIV simply for being diagnosed with an STI and instead relies on good public health practice as the most effective strategy to deal with HIV/AIDS.

Speaking on behalf of millions of people living with and affected by HIV across Europe, as well as experts in HIV science, public health and human rights, the signatories are ready to provide advice, guidance and the collection of good practices relating to HIV prevention to the government.

Contact:

HIV Justice Network:  Edwin J Bernard, edwin@hivjustice.net

European AIDS Treatment Group: Tamás Bereczky on tamas.bereczky@eatg.org

Download and share the letter (with references). Also available on the EATG website

Open Letter to Prague Public Health Authority

Footnote: At the request of Czech AIDS Society a number of organisations representing European networks of communities of people living with and affected by HIV, doctors and scientists wrote today to head of Prague’s Public Health Authority to raise our concern about the initiation of a police investigation into the sex lives of 30 men living with HIV on the sole grounds that these men have been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection (STI).

We hereby would like to stress that disseminating the right information, and fighting stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV, or any other groups such as men having sex with men has proved have proved to be effective in responding to the epidemic, to link to and retain persons in care. The active discrimination and legal persecution of people with HIV is in diametrical opposition to this evidence.

Letter to Dr. Zdeňka Jágrová, Hygienicka, Head of the Prague Public Health Authority

Czech Officials Launch Criminal Investigation Into 30 Gay Men Over HIV Exposure

Kenya: KELIN to challenge President Kenyatta's plan to keep a list of every child and breastfeeding/expectant mothers living with HIV

Canada: Academic article explores problematic police and media practices relating to allegations of HIV non-disclosure, proposes solutions

Kyle Kirkup explores Canadian police and media practices that stigmatize people living with HIV (PLWH) and facilitate the public’s belief that HIV and PLWH are dangerous. In support, Kirkup analyzes the 2010 case of an Ottawa man living with HIV arrested for sexual assault, which involved the public release of the man’s identity, photo, sexual health, and sexual encounters in an article headlined “Have you had sex with this man?”

The ensuing discourse of gay male sexuality using tropes from the HIV epidemic in the 80s illustrates, Kirkup argues, how a lack of police and media regulation and education continue to produce a punitive and isolating environment for PLWH.

Kirkup proposes several strategies for reform, including expanding publication bans and non-disclosure legislation, changing police ethics to keep private information out of the hands of journalists, educating journalists and public officials about the medial realities of HIV transmission risk and medical prognosis, and abandoning the “aggravated sexual assault” charge based on HIV status.

Canada: New film explores the impact of using sexual assault law to prosecute HIV non-disclosure

This week sees the release of an important new short film from the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network.

Consent: HIV non-disclosure and sexual assault law interrogates whether criminalising HIV non-disclosure does what the Supreme Court of Canada believes it does – protect sexual autonomy and dignity – or whether, in fact, it does injustice both to individuals charged and to the Canadian criminal justice system’s approach to sexual violence.

Produced together with Goldelox Productions, with whom the Legal Network also collaborated on their powerful 2012 documentary’ Positive Women: Exposing Injustice, this 28-minute film features eight experts in HIV, sexual assault and law whose commentary raises many questions about HIV-related legal developments in Canada.

At a time when society seems to be taking the prevalence of sexual

violence and rape culture more seriously, this film dares to ask some

difficult questions about its limits in the law. The law of sexual

assault is intended to protect women’s sexual autonomy, equality

and dignity, yet as applied with respect to alleged HIV non-disclosure,

these values are not necessarily being advanced. Through expert

testimonies, Consent shines a light on the systemic obstacles women

face in disclosing their HIV status, points to the dangerous health

and human rights outcomes of applying such a harsh charge as

aggravated sexual assault to HIV non-disclosure, and makes the

argument that the law needs to better protect those who are living

with and vulnerable to HIV. Consent demonstrates that advocacy

efforts opposing the overly broad criminalization of HIV non-disclosure

must address the use of sexual assault law and that such efforts must

do so alongside feminist allies.

From: http://www.consentfilm.org/about-the-film/

The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network has for some time been exploring the implications of using sexual assault law to prosecute HIV non-disclosure cases, given the marked differences between the types of conduct that are typically referred to as sexual assault (including rape) and HIV non-disclosure cases.

In April 2014, the Legal Network convened leading feminist scholars, front-line workers, activists and legal experts for a ground-breaking dialogue on the (mis)use of sexual assault laws in cases of HIV non-disclosure. Consent: HIV non-disclosure and sexual assault law was filmed during this convening.

Their analysis demonstrates that the use of sexual assault law in the HIV non-disclosure context – where the sexual activity is consensual other than the non-disclosure – is a poor fit and can ultimately have a detrimental impact on sexual assault law as a tool to advance gender equality and renounce gender-based violence.

The Consent website ( in English / in French ) also lists future screenings across Canada, which will be accompanied by panels and workshops, as part of an ongoing strategy to build up allies among women’s rights advocates for the longer-term work.

A discussion guide will also soon be available.