UK: The Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Bill proposes mandatory HIV testing following an alleged spitting/biting assault on frontline staff

Stabbed, Spat At, Punched: Emergency Workers Tell HuffPost UK Why New Law Is Needed To Protect Them: Now PM backs Bill to protect 999 staff from assault

A new law to protect emergency workers from assaults has won the personal backing of Theresa May after police, paramedics and nurses lobbied MPs for tougher sentences.

A private members’ bill to specifically target abuse against 999 staff has secured the Prime Minister’s approval, HuffPost UK has been told.

The Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Bill, tabled by Labour MP Chris Bryant, is due to have its Second Reading in the Commons on Friday and is now expected to get enough Parliamentary time to get on the statute book.

Dubbed the ‘Protect The Protectors Law’, the bill follows a rising number of incidents where NHS, firefighters and police staff have been abused, attacked or spat at in the line of duty.

The legislation will for the first time deem assaults on emergency staff as “aggravated”, and subject to heavier sentences. It will also force suspects to provide samples of saliva or blood to ensure rapid testing of HIV and other illnesses.

Asked if the PM was giving her personal support to the bill, a No.10 spokesman told HuffPost UK: “That’s one the Government is backing, so you can take that as a ‘yes’.”

The Ministry of Justice and Home Office are expected to signal on Friday their support for the new legislation.

Backed by trade unions and staff bodies such as the Police Federation, an alliance of emergency workers held a ‘drop-in’ lobby of MPs in the Commons on Wednesday.

Bryant told HuffPost UK: “I’m really encouraged by how many MPs have come along, listened to emergency workers and said they’ll support the Bill.

“It’s not over until the votes are counted though and I’m not counting my chickens yet. All sorts of things could still go awry.”

Alan Lofthouse, national ambulance officer for the Unison trade union, said: “It’s only right that the full force of the law is used against anyone who attacks those trying to save lives and protect the public. This bill will help the courts to bring offenders to justice.”

HuffPost UK talked to five emergency workers, each with their own stories of why a new law was needed.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/theresa-may-backs-new-law-protecting-emergency-workers-from-assaults-in-line-of-duty-five-case-studies_uk_59e7b1cce4b00905bdae7e17

Belarus: More than 50 cases of criminal prosecution of HIV in Belarus in the first 6 months of 2017

Belarusian legislation discriminates against HIV-positive people (Google translation – Article in russian below)

In the six months of 2017, the number of cases of criminal prosecution of HIV-positive people in Article 53 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (Infection with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus) has significantly increased in all regions of Belarus, especially in the Gomel region.

If in the period from 2012 to 2016, 38 cases were registered, then for 6 months in 2017 – more than 50 people were convicted, many of them are serving sentences in places of deprivation of liberty.

“The Belarusian community of PLWH” notes that at a time when calls for testing and self-testing for HIV are sounding throughout the country, campaigns are underway to create a tolerant attitude, people with identified HIV status are being prosecuted. The topic of HIV infection is actively discussed in the Belarusian press and abroad, thereby creating a negative, negative impression about people living with HIV, creating a new wave of enmity, stigma and discrimination in society.

Article 157 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus was approved in 1999, when HIV infection was considered an incurable disease. Since then, about 20 years have passed, mankind has stepped into a new age, medical approaches have changed, highly effective treatment has appeared, HIV is no longer a deadly disease, and has become chronic, well controlled by antiretroviral treatment. In HIV-positive people taking ARV therapy, with an undetectable viral load, the risk of HIV transmission during sexual intercourse is reduced to almost zero.

Article 157 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus consists of three parts:

Knowingly placing another person at risk of contracting the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) – is punishable by a fine, or by arrest, or by imprisonment for up to three years.
Infection of another person by frivolity or with the indirect intent of HIV by a person who knew about his having this disease is punishable by imprisonment for a term of two to seven years.
The action provided for in paragraph 2 of this article, committed against two or more persons, either knowingly underage, or with direct intent, is punishable by imprisonment for a term of five to thirteen years.

In the first and second parts of this article, criminal cases are instituted against people who live in legal marriages or couples where one partner is HIV-positive even if he has informed his partner about HIV-carrier, even if the fact of one from family members is taken completely consciously and voluntarily.

In accordance with the requirements of Art. 157 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus, discordant marriages in general are under the ban and under penalty of criminal responsibility, as well as one-time voluntary sexual contacts between people of different HIV status.

In Belarus there are presumably more than 500 discordant couples. They live and work, multiplying the welfare of their country, are good taxpayers. Practically every family has children who risk being left in single-parent families, without parental care, because of the absurdity and inhumanity of law enforcement practice.

Russia also provides for criminal liability for posing a risk of contracting HIV infection under art. 122 of the Criminal Code. Thanks to the active efforts of the Russian community of PLHIV, an important note was added to the article in 2003, on the basis of which the person who put the partner at risk of infection or who infected him with HIV infection is released from criminal liability “if another person put at risk of infection, or was infected with HIV infection, was warned in a timely manner about the presence of the first of this disease and voluntarily agreed to perform actions that created the danger of infection. ” Such an addition in Article 122 of the Criminal Code released HIV-positive Russians with established HIV status from criminal prosecution.

“Belarusian community of PLWH” believes that Article 157 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus contradicts international and national legal norms. Under current legislation, an HIV-positive person can not feel a full-fledged citizen of their country. Such a practice with respect to people living with HIV is discriminatory and requires an early resolution at the legislative level of Belarus!

As of September 1, 2017, there were 18,438 HIV-positive people registered in Belarus.

Published in ECU on Oct 6, 2017

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Белорусское законодательство дискриминирует ВИЧ-позитивных людей

За шесть месяцев 2017 года во всех регионах Беларуси, особенно в Гомельской области, значительно увеличилось количество случаев уголовного преследования ВИЧ-положительных людей по статье 157 Уголовного Кодекса Республики Беларусь (Заражение вирусом иммунодефицита человека).

Если в период с 2012 по 2016 годы было зарегистрировано 38 случаев, то за 6 месяцев 2017 года — более 50-ти человек были осуждены, многие из них отбывают срок наказания в местах лишения свободы.

«Белорусское сообщество ЛЖВ» отмечает, что в то время, когда по всей стране звучат призывы к тестированию и самотестированию на ВИЧ, проходят кампании по формированию толерантного отношения, люди с выявленным ВИЧ-статусом подвергаются уголовному преследованию. Тема о заражении ВИЧ активно муссируется в белорусской прессе и за ее пределами, тем самым формируя отрицательное, негативное впечатление о людях, живущих с ВИЧ, порождая новую волну вражды, стигмы и дискриминации в обществе.

Статья 157 Уголовного Кодекса Республики Беларусь была утверждена в 1999 году, когда ВИЧ-инфекция считалась неизлечимым заболеванием. С тех пор прошло около 20 лет, человечество перешагнуло в новый век, поменялись медицинские подходы, появилось высокоэффективное лечение, ВИЧ больше не является смертельно опасным заболеванием, и перешел в разряд хронических, хорошо контролируется антиретровирусным лечением. У ВИЧ-положительных людей, принимающих АРВ-терапию, при неопределяемой вирусной нагрузке риск передачи ВИЧ при половых контактах снижается практически до нуля.

Статья 157 УК РБ состоит из трех частей:

Заведомое поставление другого лица в опасность заражения вирусом иммунодефицита человека (ВИЧ) – наказывается штрафом, или арестом, или лишением свободы на срок до трех лет.
Заражение другого лица по легкомыслию или с косвенным умыслом ВИЧ лицом, знавшим о наличии у него этого заболевания – наказывается лишением свободы на срок от двух до семи лет.
Действие, предусмотренное частью 2 настоящей статьи, совершенное в отношении двух или более лиц, либо заведомо несовершеннолетнего, либо с прямым умыслом, – наказывается лишением свободы на срок от пяти до тринадцати лет.

По 1 и 2-ой части данной статьи возбуждаются уголовные дела по отношению к людям, которые живут в законных браках или парах, где один из партнеров является ВИЧ-положительным, даже если он проинформировал своего партнера о ВИЧ-носительстве, даже если факт заболевания одного из членов семьи принят совершенно осознанно и добровольно.

В соответствии с требованиями ст. 157 УК РБ дискордантные браки вообще находятся под запретом и под страхом уголовной ответственности, равно как и разовые добровольные половые контакты между разными по ВИЧ-статусу людьми.

В Беларуси предположительно насчитывается более 500 дискордантных пар. Они живут и трудятся, преумножая благосостояние своей страны, являются добропорядочными налогоплательщиками. Практически в каждой семье есть дети, которые рискуют остаться в неполных семьях, без попечения родителей, по причине абсурдности и антигуманности правоприменительной практики.

В России также предусмотрена уголовная ответственность за поставление в опасность заражения ВИЧ-инфекцией по ст. 122 УК РФ. Благодаря активным действиям российского сообщества ЛЖВ, в 2003 году в статью было внесено важное примечание, на основании которого человек, поставивший партнера в опасность заражения, либо заразивший его ВИЧ-инфекцией, освобождается от уголовной ответственности, «если другое лицо, поставленное в опасность заражения, либо зараженное ВИЧ-инфекцией, было своевременно предупреждено о наличии у первого этой болезни и добровольно согласилось совершить действия, создавшие опасность заражения». Такое дополнение в ст.122 УК РФ освободило ВИЧ-положительных россиян с установленным ВИЧ-статусом от уголовного преследования.

«Белорусское сообщество ЛЖВ» считает, что статья 157 УК РБ противоречит международным и национальным правовым нормам. При существующем законодательстве ВИЧ-положительный человек не может чувствовать себя полноправным гражданином своей страны. Подобная практика по отношению к людям, живущим с ВИЧ является дискриминационной, и требует скорейшего разрешения на законодательном уровне Беларуси!

По состоянию на 1 сентября 2017 года в Беларуси зарегистрировано 18 438 ВИЧ-положительных людей.

Australia: Amendment to New South Wales Public Health Act, with its punitive focus on STIs transmission, risks undermining the Act intent

Is one person to blame if another gets a sexually transmissible infection (STI)? In most Australian states, if you have certain STIs, you have a legal responsibility to notify your potential sexual partners.

The NSW government last week passed an amendment to the state’s Public Health Act that increased the associated penalties by doubling the maximum fines and adding potential jail time.

Section 79 (1) of the Act now reads:

A person who knows that he or she has a notifiable disease, or a scheduled medical condition, that is sexually transmissible is required to take reasonable precautions against spreading the disease or condition.

Maximum penalty: 100 penalty units or imprisonment for 6 months, or both.

In addition to increasing potential penalties, the amendment removed an earlier provision mandating disclosure of STI status, replacing it instead with the need for “reasonable precautions”.

This is a positive change for the law that reflects the best available research on STIs and transmission. Yet its coupling with increased penalties has sent a mixed message about sexual health in the state.

Further, the idea that punishing STI exposure or transmission will decrease rates of infection is not supported by global research on HIV, and there is no reason to believe this would be any different for other STIs.

Laws across Australia

Health law is pretty complex and mainly left up to each state and territory. Generally speaking, across Australia you risk some kind of punishment for knowingly infecting another person with what are often referred to as “notifiable diseases”. This list covers a range of infections but STIs include chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis, HIV, shigella, donovanosis, and hepatitis a, b and c.

In some states, notably New South Wales, Tasmania and Queensland, it’s an offence just to knowingly expose someone to an infection, even if they don’t actually become infected. While in other states, like Victoria and South Australia, health acts do not specify penalties for exposure or transmission, referring instead to the respective crime acts. For the most part, curable STIs do not rank as serious enough for criminal prosecution.

What is unique about NSW is that it uses the Public Health Act to single out STIs and describe specific punishments above and beyond other infections.

Although laws in NSW seem unusually fixated on STIs, the move away from mandated disclosure in favour of “reasonable precautions” is a positive step. While disclosure may seem sensible on the surface, it’s not the most effective at preventing transmission. This is because disclosure requires that someone be aware of an infection and many people with an STI don’t realise they are infected. For example, it’s estimated nearly three quarters of chlamydia infections in young people in Australia go undiagnosed every year. Relying on disclosure can, therefore, give people a false sense of security.

There are other more effective strategies than disclosure for protecting someone from infection. With HIV, for example, successful treatment means the risks of transmitting the virus to another person are virtually nonexistent. Under the amended NSW law, treatment could quite rightly be considered a reasonable precaution to avoid transmitting HIV.

But the state’s Public Health Act is relevant to all STIs, not just HIV. For other infections, it’s less clear what precautions might be seen as reasonable. Condoms can offer protection from some infections, but not all, and they are rarely used for oral sex. Given more and more chlamydia and gonorrhoea cases are identified in the throat, this is potentially problematic.

Punishment doesn’t help

Every year, there are over 100,000 STI diagnoses across Australia, the vast majority of which can be cured using antibiotics. Ultimately, public health initiatives aim to reduce new cases and lower the overall amount of infection.

It’s been suggested by public health experts that criminalising transmission can undermine public health efforts by reinforcing stigma and causing people to delay accessing testing, treatment and care.

And in a review of legal conditions around the world, researchers found that there was no link between laws criminalising HIV transmission and lower infection rates. The review also found such laws disproportionately impacted those who may experience marginalisation, such as young people and women.

In reality, situations where an individual recklessly or wilfully places another at risk of an STI are incredibly rare and health officials have many options besides punishment.

As part of their core work, doctors and clinics counsel on and work with people to prevent onward transmission, and in some cases public health orders can be used to compel people to, among other actions, attend counselling and refrain from activities that might spread an infection. In the most extreme situations, criminal charges can be brought on the basis of grievous bodily harm.

Overall, a special and punitive focus to STIs risks further entrenching stigma and undermining the Act’s intent, which is to manage and reduce infection. If there is any hope of reducing STIs in Australia, laws must aim to foster an environment where people feel comfortable, able and willing to get tested and engaged with their sexual health.

While it seems unlikely a rush to prosecute those who expose others to STIs will spring up from this amendment, the law as it is currently written leaves open that rather serious possibility. In NSW and across Australia, health law consistently places the burden of prevention on one partner. In an ideal world, all parties to a sexual encounter take “reasonable precautions” to protect themselves and each other from infection.

Australia: Proposed sexual health law in New South Wales is a step backwards & runs counter to good public health

PROPOSED SEXUAL HEALTH LAW REFORMS IN NSW SLAMMED BY EXPERTS

The reforms would see people with HIV or an STI who fail to take “reasonable precautions” face a fine or up to six months in prison.

The New South Wales government has introduced a bill that would see people with HIV or an STI who fail to take “reasonable precautions” face a fine or up to six months in prison.

The Public Health Amendment (Review) Bill 2017 seeks to make changes to Section 79 of the Public Health Act 2010, removing the existing law around disclosure of HIV, but replacing it with a new offence meaning anyone who knows they have an STI could be charged for not taking undefined “reasonable precautions”.

Sexual health organisation ACON has criticised the bill, saying it is at odds with good public health practice.

“Given that most of the STIs that would be covered by this proposal are treatable, it is our position that the new offence created in s79 introduces unprecedented, unjustified, and disproportionate penalties and runs counter to good public health processes,” ACON said in a statement on its website.

“This new offence could deter people from sexual health testing and contact tracing. The evidence indicates that HIV and other STIs are more likely to be transmitted via someone who has undiagnosed infection.”

ACON said that STIs are a health issue, not a criminal issue, and called on concerned members of the public to contact NSW Minister for Health Brad Hazzard.

Nic Holas of HIV organisation The Institute of Many agreed that the proposed new law is worrying.

“Those of us in the HIV-positive community are very concerned about the proposed changes to the Public Health Act,” he said.

“It used to be that you had to disclose your HIV status or face some kind of penalty, potentially. Last year the New South Wales government recognised that that kind of forced disclosure put all the responsibility on HIV-positive people, which was unfair and ultimately unhelpful in ending HIV.

“But now it seems what they’re trying to do is remove that—which is really great—and introduce punitive charges on anyone who’s HIV-positive or anyone with an STI if they don’t take reasonable precautions.”

Holas called the proposed law “really extreme” and said it could deter testing and result in worse public health outcomes.

“That’s extremely concerning for us, because the World Health Organisation says that those sorts of extreme punitive measures do the opposite of driving down rates of HIV and STIs, and send them upwards,” he said.

Holas said there is already provision under the law for a person intentionally spreading an STI to be charged with grievous bodily harm. He called for the proposed new offence to be scrapped.

“What’s far more important to ending HIV and the current high rates of STIs is to encourage testing and treatment, not heavy prison sentences,” he said.

Brazil: Activists celebrate as ‘deliberate HIV transmission’ law amendment is withdrawn

Yesterday, news broke that populist Congressman, Pompeo de Mattos, has withdrawn an amendment originally proposed in 2015 to make ‘deliberate’ HIV transmission a ‘heinous crime’.

The amendment, Bill No. 198, 2015, would have added to the list of heinous crimes – which currently includes murder, extortion, rape, child exploitation and spreading an epidemic that results in death – those who “transmit and infect consciously and deliberately others with the AIDS virus. (sic)”.

According to Brazil’s AIDS News Agency

In Brazil, intentional transmission, that is, with intent, is already considered a crime. Articles 130 and 131 of the Penal Code already provide for imprisonment for those who infect others. Anyone who exposes someone to a venereal disease through sexual intercourse can be jailed for three months to a year or receive a fine. If the person intentionally wants to transmit the disease, the penalty is imprisonment, from one to four years, and fine.

“The initiative to criminalize HIV-positive people does not contribute to the fight against prejudice and discrimination, and it also throws the responsibility of prevention on the infected person,” says a statement released on Thursday by Foaesp Of the State of São Paulo).

In this same document, the Forum thanked Mr Pompeo for his request to withdraw from the PL. “We are now waiting for the House Board to abide by the request and file the bill, and we will also be careful that no other parliamentarian has a similar initiative.”

Activists from all over Brazil have celebrated the Bill’s withdrawal. Any new proposal cannot be considered by the current parliament and now must wait until after elections, scheduled for October 2018.

Since 2015, PLHIV networks, civil society organisations, the Department of STDs, AIDS and Viral Hepatitis of the Ministry of Health, and a number UN agencies – includng UNAIDS and UNFPA – had all pressured Congress to withdraw the bill.

Update (September 4th). A press release by the Department of STDs, AIDS and Viral Hepatitis of the Ministry of Health notes:

The director of the Department of STDs, AIDS and Viral Hepatitis (DIAHV), Adele Benzaken, called the federal MPs Érica Kokay (PT-DF), member of the Family Social Security Commission (CCSF) and Coordinator of the Joint Parliamentary Front to Combat STDs, HIV , and AIDS – and Laura Carneiro (PMDB-RJ) and Deputy Pompeo de Mattos to thank them for their support against the procedure of PL 198/15. ““The effort of these parliamentarians was essential to educate their colleagues in the House to reassess that Brazil is a reference in the treatment of HIV / AIDS and that this will not help the Brazilian response at all.“ The director of DIAHV also highlighted the mobilisation made by civil society and the support of the Brazilian Office of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV / AIDS (UNAIDS) that she said were key to the outcome achieved with the filing request.

On July 3rd, the United Nations Expanded Thematic Group on HIV / AIDS (WG / UNAIDS) chaired by UNFPA, met to articulate opposition to the Bill.

For the UNFPA representative in Brazil, Jaime Nadal, the bill goes against the ideals and proposals of the United Nations regarding the HIV / AIDS epidemic. Criminalizing HIV transmission, in addition to reinforcing the stigmatization of people living with the virus, may discourage people from undergoing testing and treatment, since they would be under threat of becoming criminals, he said.The bill ignores the scientific advances in HIV / AIDS, which prove that antiretroviral treatments reduce the chances of transmitting the virus in sexual intercourse by up to 96%. “Many countries around the world are reforming their laws criminalising HIV transmission,” said Nadal, adding that the bill goes against the global trend.

UNAIDS Director in Brazil, Georgiana Braga-Orillard, reinforced the speech of the UNFPA representative. According to her, the bill further vulnerabilises populations with a positive serological status, since “it considers the more than 800 thousand people living with HIV in Brazil as potential criminals.”

In a technical note, UNAIDS outlined six counter-arguments to the bill: it penalizes the most vulnerable; it promotes fear and discrimination; it favours the selective application of the law; it disregards the scientific evidence on HIV; it compromises privacy and confidentiality, and it will make Brazil lose its leading role in the response to HIV / AIDS.

A public meeting with the Congressman, scheduled for July 4th, was cancelled at the last minute. However, the letter of withdrawal, although only publicly released yesterday, was dated May 11th.

I request you, pursuant to art. 104 of the Internal Rules of the Chamber of Deputies, the withdrawal of the Bill of Law No. 198 of 2015, which "makes a heinous crime the deliberate transmission of the AIDS virus." — Translation: I request you, pursuant to art. 104 of the Internal Rules of the Chamber of Deputies, the withdrawal of the Bill of Law No. 198 of 2015, which “makes a heinous crime the deliberate transmission of the AIDS virus.”

Nevertheless, prosecutions under general laws continue.

In July, a newspaper reported that a 43 year-old heterosexual man was charged with serious bodily injury in a Rio de Janeiro court for ‘attempting to infect two women with HIV’ by having sex without a condom.

In an interview with the Rio newspaper Extra , the man admitted that he was HIV-positive and [allegedly] transmitted HIV to the women, but denied that he had had sex without a condom with the intention of infecting his partners.

The case continues.

US: Center for HIV Law and Policy releases updated ‘HIV Criminalization Sourcebook’

Today, the Center for HIV Law and Policy (CHLP) has released a third, updated version of their ‘Ending and Defending Against HIV Criminalization: State and Federal Laws and Prosecutions’ series, first published in 2010.

The renamed HIV Criminalization in the United States: A Sourcebook on State and Federal HIV Criminal Law and Practice updates and expands upon the previous versions with the inclusion of new reporting and analysis of laws and regulations allowing for quarantine, isolation and civil commitment of people living with sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV, in each jurisdiction.

This resource for lawyers and community advocates outlines punitive laws, policies, and cases affecting people living with HIV (PLHIV) and other communicable diseases in all fifty states, the military, federal prisons, and U.S. territories. It may be used as an aid for attorneys of people living with HIV prosecuted for “HIV exposure” or non-disclosure of HIV status, as well as for advocates who want to reform HIV-related criminal laws in their state.

The ‘HIV Criminalization Sourcebook’ catalogues and analyses state and federal HIV criminal laws in the United States, providing examples of recent prosecutions and explanations of the major cases applying these laws, along with text and analysis of state laws on other sexually transmitted diseases that involve criminal penalties or other restrictions for exposing another person to possible infection.

Specifically, it covers laws that:

1. criminalize non-disclosure of HIV status or exposure of a third party to HIV;

2. make exceptions to confidentiality and privacy rights of people living with HIV;

3. provide for sentence enhancements for people living with HIV convicted of underlying crimes such as ‘prostitution’ and ‘solicitation’; and

4. require sex offender registration for people living with HIV convicted of these ‘crimes’.

The Sourcebook is part of CHLP’s campaign to support state advocates through tools that expand legal literacy on HIV criminalization. In addition to the Sourcebook, CHLP’s website includes a separate page for each state summarizing relevant HIV and STI criminal law sections, so that users can download everything they need just for their state in addition to accessing the entire Sourcebook.

The Center for HIV Law and Policy will be co-hosting a webinar on October 11, 2017 to review ways to use the Sourcebook in HIV criminal reform efforts. The webinar also will explore some of the different strategic pathways to reform, along with benefits and drawbacks to those different options. The discussion will cover some of the key factors and questions to consider in deciding on what reform strategy makes the most sense in a given jurisdiction.

Read the full press release here

Download the HIV Criminalization Sourcebook here

China: Supreme Court publishes new measures to severely punish wilful transmission of HIV through prostitution, even when a condom was used

New Supreme Court Standards Address Prostitution, HIV

Judicial authorities hope new measure will better protect China’s women, children, and marginalized communities.

China’s highest court and public prosecutor have outlined a series of standards to mete out punishment for crimes relating to prostitution and the transmission of HIV.

The joint legal interpretation, released Sunday and effective since Tuesday, aims to strengthen the protection of children, women, and other vulnerable groups. It stipulates that forcing girls under age 14 into prostitution is categorized as a “serious violation” under the crime of coercing others into prostitution, and is punishable by a minimum of 10 years to life in prison.

The stipulation emphasizes that individuals do not need to have coerced more than one child into prostitution or committed the crime multiple times to be charged with a “serious violation.” Recruiting more than 10 people into prostitution, or more than five people from vulnerable groups — including minors, pregnant women, and the mentally disabled — also constitutes a “serious violation.”

Another significant point highlighted in the new interpretation is that people with HIV who knowingly transmit the virus to others through prostitution — as either buyers or sellers of sex — will face severe punishment for intentionally causing injury, even in cases where barrier contraception, such as a condom or diaphragm, was used. Punishments for those who transmit HIV through sexual conduct other than prostitution, however, will be considered on the basis of whether individuals are deemed to have intentionally neglected to take precautionary measures.

“The primary consideration is that those with HIV should be able to lead a normal life, that they should not encounter discrimination in making friends, and that their dignity should be respected,” an official at the Supreme People’s Court told ChinaCourt.org, a state-run website for judicial affairs.

“AIDS patients face discrimination in society generally,” Lü Xiaoquan, a women’s legal aid lawyer at Qianqian Law Firm in Beijing, told Sixth Tone. “The disease causes them to suffer not only physical harm, but also mental harm.” Lü added that in his view, the new guidelines are clearly intended to protect potential victims rather than further stigmatize carriers.

The interpretation also mentions that using social networks to sell sex is punishable by law, and that those who lure people into prostitution, provide premises for the sale and purchase of sex, or solicit sex themselves can be convicted of the crime even if they have not profited from it.

The previous interpretation on prohibiting prostitution was published by the same judicial authorities in 1992. Lü believes the fact that the former interpretation lagged behind the practical need to fight crime today is what led to this new interpretation, based on the ninth amendment to the country’s penal code, passed in 2015.

“The interpretation provides clear and unified standards for fighting crime, and this has the potential to eradicate random enforcement and unfair penalties,” Lü said. “However, good legislation is not enough — fair judgment and strict enforcement of the law are also needed.”

Published on July 26, 2017 in Sixth Tone

Jamaica: Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions recommends legislation making wilful transmission of STIs a crime

Prosecutors want Law making wilful transmission of sexual disease a crime

Jovan Johnson, Parliamentary Reporter

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has recommended that the Parliament make it clear in law that knowingly transmitting a sexual disease is a crime.

Assistant DPP, Adley Duncan, said the offence exists at common law but there is no legislation explicitly stating that the act is illegal.

He made the recommendation this afternoon during a parliamentary committee reviewing Jamaica’s sex laws.

Duncan said the position of the Office of the DPP stemmed from last year’s case involving George Flowers, who was ordered extradited from Jamaica to Canada on allegations he knowingly transmitted HIV to four women in the North American country between 1996 and 2012.

Flowers reportedly fled to Jamaica in 2012, the same year Canadian police issued an arrest warrant and later an extradition request.

Jamaica and Canada have an extradition treaty, which has the DPP’s office as the central authority or the representative of the requesting foreign state.

Duncan said an issue developed following the request in 2013 as Flowers argued that the offence was in Canadian law but not in Jamaica’s and therefore by the rules, he could not be extradited.

The assistant DPP said prosecutors successfully argued that the offence is recognised at common law and the courts upheld the order.

He also noted that under Jamaica’s marital rape law, knowingly or recklessly transmitting a sexual offence is a crime.

But Duncan said, making it clear in law that such an action is a criminal offence would remove any doubt.

Canada: The recent conviction of a woman living with HIV exemplifies the injustices of the current use of sexual assault laws against people living with HIV

When will justice department announce new approach to prosecuting cases of HIV non-disclosure?

Critics say that recent conviction of Indigenous woman is further proof that the use of sexual assault laws in cases of HIV non-disclosure continue to criminalize marginalized people and women of colour.

BY ALEX MCCLELLAND

An Indigenous woman with HIV has had her appeal on an aggravated sexual assault conviction dismissed by the Manitoba Court of Appeal. The decision handed down on June 29 comes as a blow to the growing movement of lawyers and human rights advocates pushing to change laws that they say criminalize people with HIV, in particular vulnerable women.

Activists have been calling for a moratorium on all new prosecutions of HIV-non-disclosure cases.

The woman convicted in the most recent case is pregnant. She will serve nine months in a Manitoba prison. (NOW Magazine has decided not to publish her name out of respect for her privacy.)

She was convicted in 2014 for failing to disclose her HIV status to a friend she had unprotected sex with three times. They had both been drinking on each occasion. The friend later tested positive for HIV, but it’s not clear if he contracted the condition from the woman. It was never proven in court.

Testimony at her trial also revealed the woman’s own history of intergenerational sexual violence and her belief she had contracted HIV through coerced sex. But the appeal court decision did not take any of that into consideration as mitigating factors.

“Everyone is very shocked and saddened,” says Laverne Gervais, Project Coordinator of Sisters of Fire at Ka Ni Kanichihk, a support group for Indigenous women living with HIV attended regularly by the woman. “She did everything that the law wants people to do, she attended programming, bettering herself, and was working on starting a new family with her committed boyfriend.”

The conviction is considered by critics to exemplify the injustices of the current use of sexual assault laws against people living with HIV, including the stigma still attached to the condition even though it is now considered a chronic and manageable condition that can be rendered undetectable after treatment.

The trial and appeal had been widely publicized in sensational articles. The woman’s high school graduation photo was leaked to the media shortly after her arrest.

Richard Elliott, Executive Director of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, says the fact she is HIV-positive completely changed how she was viewed by the court. “The judge presumptively saw her as a sexual assailant.”

The judge who presided over her original trial, Justice Colleen Suche, noted in her decision that the woman’s behaviour was not predatory “or part of a pattern of dangerous behaviour. Rather, her silence [in not disclosing her HIV status] was the result of fear” – namely, as a result of her own history of sexual abuse.

However, Suche instructed the jury to disregard testimony related to her intoxication.

Says Elliott: “Had she been HIV-negative, her intoxication would have been relevant in her ability to consent or not to the sex. But it was not understood as relevant in her ability to disclose her HIV status. The distinction is biased. This is clearly not a sexual assault, and the application of that law in this case does a disservice to those laws.”

It was alleged by the Crown that the accused may have transmitted HIV to her friend, but Suche indicated in her decision that “the question was not relevant” and, therefore, not before the jury. There was also no HIV phylogenetic analysis done, a test to determine if the same strain of HIV was transmitted from one person to another. The woman reportedly gave him a condom during one of the sexual encounters but he didn’t use it.

Due to the conviction on aggravated sexual assault, she is now a registered sex offender. She was allowed to volunteer at her daughter’s daycare program, but will now be barred from doing similar volunteer work because of her conviction.

She faces a challenging time in jail. People incarcerated for sexual assault because of HIV non-disclosure face stigma, discrimination and violence behind bars. They are often housed in protective custody as a result, which can mean being held in administrative segregation 24/7.

On World AIDS Day December 1, 2016, the Federal Minister of Justice Jody Wilson-Raybould promised “to examine the criminal justice system’s response to non-disclosure of HIV status,” recognizing that “the over-criminalization of HIV non-disclosure discourages many individuals from being tested and seeking treatment, and further stigmatizes those living with HIV or AIDS.”

Wilson-Raybould also acknowledged in her statement that the Canadian criminal justice system “must adapt to better reflect the current scientific evidence on the realities of this disease.”

But the hoped-for immediate moratorium on new HIV non-disclosure cases that activists have been lobbying for is not happening. And a new approach to prosecuting such cases is now not expected until the fall.

Until then, the law will continue to be applied in ways, critics say, that create more vulnerability and insecurity for already marginalized people in society, especially women of colour.

“We can’t be living in fear of the criminal law any longer,” says Jeff Potts, of the Canadian Positive People Network, a national organization representing people living with HIV. “HIV is not a crime.”

Brazil: UN Working Group on HIV/AIDS states its opposition to Brazilian bill aiming to criminalise HIV transmission

The United Nations Expanded Thematic Group on HIV / AIDS (WG / UNAIDS) met on Monday (3) to discuss the current outlook for the AIDS epidemic in Brazil and to articulate opposition to Bill 198/2015, which would make it a heinous crime to deliberately transmit the virus. This was the first meeting of the group chaired by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) .For the UNFPA representative in Brazil, Jaime Nadal, the bill goes against the ideals and proposals of the United Nations regarding the HIV / AIDS epidemic. Criminalizing HIV transmission, in addition to reinforcing the stigmatization of people living with the virus, may discourage people from undergoing testing and treatment, since they would be under threat of becoming criminals, he said.The bill ignores the scientific advances in HIV / AIDS, which prove that antiretroviral treatments reduce the chances of transmitting the virus in sexual intercourse by up to 96%. “Many countries around the world are reforming their laws criminalising HIV transmission,” said Nadal, adding that the bill goes against the global trend.

UNAIDS Director in Brazil, Georgiana Braga-Orillard, reinforced the speech of the UNFPA representative. According to her, the bill further vulnerabilises populations with a positive serological status, since “it considers the more than 800 thousand people living with HIV in Brazil as potential criminals.”

According to her, the goal of the UN System in Brazil is for all people to be tested for the virus and, if necessary, treated – the opposite of what would happen if the bill was approved.

In a technical note, UNAIDS outlined six counter-arguments to the bill: it penalizes the most vulnerable; it promotes fear and discrimination; it favors the selective application of the law; it disregards the scientific evidence on HIV; it compromises privacy and confidentiality, and it will make Brazil lose its leading role in the response to HIV / AIDS.

Brazilian legislation

Law 12.984 defines as a crime the discrimination of people living with HIV / AIDS in Brazil. Institutions and persons who deny education, health or employment to HIV-positive persons, as well as those who promote their segregation or disclose their serostatus in order to offend them, are punishable.

For the director of the Department of Surveillance, Prevention and Control of STIs, HIV / AIDS and Viral Hepatitis, Adele Benzaken, it is important to discuss not only discrimination but about mortality caused by late diagnosis, irregularities and treatment abandonment.

Caio Oliveira, of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), stressed that article 130 of the Brazilian Penal Code already criminalizes the exposure of people to serious illnesses. In this way, it would not be necessary for the bill to make the transmission of the virus a heinous crime. “We need to make sure that the people who need them do not have any problems,” he said.

State and civil society

In addition to representatives of the UN System, leaders of social movements, non-governmental organizations and representatives of the public power participated in the meeting.

“Another major problem … is the confidentiality of medical records. Why? Because you will only be able to get this information if in any way these medical records come to the public domain, come to the justice system, “warned federal prosecutor for Citizen Rights, Deborah Duprat. The prosecutor also stressed that this issue may reach mainly socially stigmatized groups, which hide the infection to their families and society to avoid discrimination.

Pétala Brandão, from Conectas Human Rights, said that the bill is a result of human rights setbacks in Brazil. “It is a manifestation of a punitive ideology, of criminal recrudescence, which creates stigma and vulnerability,” he said.

She stressed that the participation of the United Nations is fundamental to guarantee the rights of all people, but that there must be, in essence, an articulation with civil society and social movements.

Erika Kokay (PT-DF) endorsed the argument of the Conectas specialist. “This culture of fear turns into hate and creates intolerance. The project creates invisible social differences, “said the deputy.

UNFPA chairs working group

With a strong focus on the sexual and reproductive rights agenda, UNFPA is one of 11 UN agencies to be part of the HIV / AIDS working group. The agency has assumed the presidency of the group for the 2017-2018 biennium.

UNFPA works to promote universal quality health services, including the prevention and treatment of reproductive tract infections and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV / AIDS.

Created in 1997 through a multisectoral approach, the working group seeks to support the response to the HIV / AIDS epidemic in the country. This mobilization places HIV among the priority themes of joint action of the UN System for several years.

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Grupo de trabalho critica projeto de lei que criminaliza transmissão do HIV

O Grupo Temático Ampliado das Nações Unidas sobre HIV/AIDS (GT/UNAIDS) reuniu-se na segunda-feira (3) para discutir o atual panorama da epidemia de AIDS no Brasil e articular a oposição ao Projeto de Lei 198/2015, que torna crime hediondo a transmissão deliberada do vírus. Este foi o primeiro encontro do grupo presidido pelo Fundo de População das Nações Unidas (UNFPA).

Para o representante do UNFPA no Brasil, Jaime Nadal, o projeto de lei vai contra os ideais e propostas das Nações Unidas referentes à epidemia de HIV/AIDS. A criminalização da transmissão do HIV, além de reforçar a estigmatização das pessoas que vivem com o vírus, pode desencorajar as pessoas a realizarem a testagem e o tratamento, uma vez que estariam sob a ameaça de se tornarem criminosas, afirmou.

O projeto de lei desconsidera os avanços científicos em HIV/AIDS, que comprovam que tratamentos antirretrovirais reduzem em até 96% as chances de transmissão do vírus em relações sexuais. “Muitos países, em todo o mundo, estão reformando suas leis que criminalizam a transmissão do HIV”, lembrou Nadal, completando que o projeto vai na contramão da tendência mundial.

A diretora do UNAIDS no Brasil, Georgiana Braga-Orillard, reforçou a fala do representante do UNFPA. Segundo ela, o projeto de lei vulnerabiliza ainda mais as populações com estado sorológico positivo, já que “considera as mais de 800 mil pessoas vivendo com HIV no Brasil como criminosos em potencial”.

Segundo ela, a meta do Sistema ONU no Brasil é que todas as pessoas realizem o teste para o vírus e, se necessário, façam o tratamento — o oposto do que aconteceria se o projeto de lei for aprovado.

Em nota técnica, o UNAIDS salientou seis argumentos contrários ao projeto de lei: ele penaliza os mais vulneráveis; promove medo e discriminação; favorece a aplicação seletiva da lei; desconsidera as evidências científicas sobre HIV; põe em risco a privacidade e a confidencialidade; e faz com que o Brasil perca o protagonismo na resposta ao HIV/AIDS.

A legislação brasileira

A Lei 12.984 define como crime a discriminação contra pessoas que vivem com HIV/AIDS no Brasil. São passíveis de punição instituições e pessoas que negarem educação, saúde ou emprego às pessoas soropositivas, bem como as que promoverem sua segregação ou divulgarem seu estado sorológico com o intuito de ofendê-las.

Para a diretora do departamento de Vigilância, Prevenção e Controle das ISTs, HIV/Aids e Hepatites Virais, Adele Benzaken, é importante discutir não somente sobre discriminação, mas sobre a mortalidade causada pelo diagnóstico tardio, irregularidades e abandono do tratamento.

Caio Oliveira, do Fundo das Nações Unidas para a Infância (UNICEF), destacou que o artigo 130 do Código Penal brasileiro já tipifica como crime a exposição de pessoas a moléstias graves. Dessa maneira, não seria necessário que o projeto de lei tornasse a transmissão do vírus um crime hediondo. “Precisamos assegurar que as pessoas que precisam não tenham mais problemas”, finalizou.

Estado e sociedade civil

Além de representantes do Sistema ONU, participaram do encontro lideranças de movimentos sociais, organizações não governamentais e representantes do poder público.

“Outro grande problema (…) é a confidencialidade dos registros médicos. Como é que fica? Porque você só vai poder ter essa informação se de alguma maneira esses registros médicos vierem a público, vierem para o sistema de Justiça”, alertou a procuradora federal dos Direitos do Cidadão, Deborah Duprat. A procuradora ressaltou também que esse ponto pode atingir principalmente grupos socialmente estigmatizados, que escondem a infecção de suas famílias e da sociedade para evitar discriminação.

Pétala Brandão, da Conectas Direitos Humanos, afirmou que o projeto de lei é resultado dos retrocessos dos direitos humanos no Brasil. “Ele é uma manifestação de uma ideologia punitivista, de recrudescimento penal, que cria estigma e vulnerabilização”, declarou.

Ela ressaltou que a participação das Nações Unidas é fundamental para a garantia dos direitos de todas as pessoas, mas que deve haver, imprescindivelmente, articulação com a sociedade civil e movimentos sociais.

Para a deputada Erika Kokay (PT-DF) endossou o argumento da especialista da Conectas. “Esta cultura do medo se transforma em ódio e cria intolerâncias. O projeto invisibiliza as diversidades sociais”, disse a deputada.

UNFPA preside grupo de trabalho

Com forte atuação pela agenda de direitos sexuais e reprodutivos, o UNFPA é uma das 11 agências das Nações Unidas a fazer parte do grupo de trabalho sobre HIV/AIDS. A agência assumiu, este ano, a presidência do grupo para o biênio 2017-2018.

O UNFPA atua para a promoção do serviço de saúde de qualidade universal, incluindo a prevenção e tratamento das infecções do aparelho reprodutor e das infecções de transmissão sexual, incluindo o HIV/AIDS.

Criado em 1997 por meio de uma abordagem multissetorial, o grupo de trabalho busca apoiar a resposta à epidemia de HIV/AIDS no país. Essa mobilização coloca o HIV entre os temas prioritários de atuação conjunta do Sistema ONU há vários anos.