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10 reasons why criminal laws and prosecutions make bad policy in the AIDS epidemic
On the final day of AIDS 2008 in Mexico City HIV positive Judge from South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal, Edwin Cameron delivered a passionate lecture entitled HIV is a virus, not a crime.
Justice Cameron argued that the enactment of laws that criminalise transmission of or exposure to HIV has become so widespread, and criminal prosecutions so frequent, that they have become a crisis in efforts to deal rationally and effectively with HIV. Citing examples from locations as diverse as the United States, Sierra Leone and Singapore, Cameron highlighted the irrational nature of these laws and their ineffectiveness in achieving their purported goal of preventing the spread of HIV. Rather, they radically increase HIV stigma and become barriers to testing and treatment. Prosecutions often single out already vulnerable groups such as sex workers, men who have sex with men and, in European countries, black males. Women are especially victimised by these laws, which expose them to assault, ostracism and further stigma.
Cameron stated that one of the outcomes of AIDS 2008 should be a major international pushback against such misguided criminal laws and prosecutions. He urged delegates — strengthened in their resolve to fight against stigma and discrimination — to return home committed to persuading lawmakers and prosecuting authorities of the folly and distraction of criminalisation.
In brief, Cameron stressed the following;
Justice Cameron argued that the enactment of laws that criminalise transmission of or exposure to HIV has become so widespread, and criminal prosecutions so frequent, that they have become a crisis in efforts to deal rationally and effectively with HIV. Citing examples from locations as diverse as the United States, Sierra Leone and Singapore, Cameron highlighted the irrational nature of these laws and their ineffectiveness in achieving their purported goal of preventing the spread of HIV. Rather, they radically increase HIV stigma and become barriers to testing and treatment. Prosecutions often single out already vulnerable groups such as sex workers, men who have sex with men and, in European countries, black males. Women are especially victimised by these laws, which expose them to assault, ostracism and further stigma.
Cameron stated that one of the outcomes of AIDS 2008 should be a major international pushback against such misguided criminal laws and prosecutions. He urged delegates — strengthened in their resolve to fight against stigma and discrimination — to return home committed to persuading lawmakers and prosecuting authorities of the folly and distraction of criminalisation.
In brief, Cameron stressed the following;
- 1. Criminalisation is ineffective
- 2. Criminal laws and criminal prosceuctions are a poor substitute for measures that really protect those at risk
- 3. Criminalisation victimises, oppresses and endangers women
- 4. Criminal laws and prosecutions are often unfairly and selectively applied
- 5. Criminlisation places the blame on one person instead of responsibility on two
- 6. Criminal laws targeting HIV are difficult and degrading to apply
- 7. Many of the laws are very poorly drafted
- 8. Criminalisation increases stigma
- 9. Criminalisation is a strong discincentive to testing
- 10. Criminalisation assumes the worst about people with HIV, and so punishes vulnerability.
Drama workshops throughout the autumn