Punitive laws stifling global AIDS response: UN

July 10, 2012: Punitive laws and human rights abuses are costing lives, wasting money and stifling the global AIDS response, according to a report released on Monday by a United Nations-backed commission.

The report titled HIV and the Law: Risks, Rights and Health, by the Global Commission on HIV and the Law found evidence that governments in every region of the world have wasted the potential of legal systems in the fight against HIV. The Global Commission is made up of former heads of state and leading legal, human rights and HIV experts, and supported by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) on behalf of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

“Bad laws should not be allowed to stand in the way of effective HIV responses,” said the UNDP Administrator, Helen Clark, in a news release, on the findings.

The report also concluded that laws based on evidence and human rights strengthen the global AIDS response, noting that these laws exist and must be utilized more and widely.

With its report based on 18 months of extensive research and analysis, as well as first-hand accounts from more than 1,000 people in 140 countries, the Global Commission found that punitive laws and discriminatory practices in many countries undermine progress against HIV.

For example, laws and legally condoned customs that fail to protect women and girls from violence deepen gender inequalities and increase their vulnerability to HIV; some intellectual property laws and policies are not consistent with international human rights law and impede access to lifesaving treatment and prevention.

Other examples include that laws that criminalise and dehumanise populations at highest risk of HIV – including men who have sex with men, sex workers, transgender people and injecting drug users – drive people underground, away from essential health services and heighten their risk of HIV; and, laws that criminalise HIV transmission, exposure or non-disclosure of HIV status discourage people from getting tested and treated.