FN-organet UNAIDS satte for nylig fokus på den omsiggribende kriminalisering af hiv-smittede, som finder sted globalt. På et høj-niveau møde i Oslo den 13.-14. februar diskuterede førende eksperter fra hele verden konsekvenserne.
To af disse eksperter kommer til København i næste uge for at deltage i et åbent seminar på Christiansborg om bl.a. hiv-kriminalisering i relation til de danske private bistandsorganisationers indsatser.
Af Jakob Haff og Anders Dahl
The High Level Consultancy, organised by UNAIDS, was a direct response to the increasing numbers of people living with HIV who are being arrested, prosecuted and convicted.
The reason being, that they did not disclose their HIV-status, potentially exposing others or non-intentionally transmitting HIV.
On top of this comes the rapid rise in the number of countries enacting or proposing HIV-specific legislation to enable these prosecutions.
At the meeting, Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS, stressed the negative influence criminalisation has on societies’ response to HIV.
”The full impact of these laws is not well documented or understood, but we understand too well how they further marginalize people living with HIV. These laws fuel stigma”, he said at the consultancy.
The experts in HIV, who participated in the Oslo consultancy, consider criminalisation to be counter-productive.
One of them, Matthew Weait, professor of law and politics at University of London, explains why: “There is no good evidence to suggest that criminal law changes behaviour and conduct, especially behaviour that is based on desire and impacted by HIV-related stigma (fordomme, udstødelse)”.
On the contrary, according to Michel Sidibé, the laws damage efforts to prevent the transmission of HIV, and also hinder the treatment and care for people living with HIV. “They remove incentives for people to get tested. And they undermine public trust in health care providers”, he said.
Michel Sidibé pointed out that criminalisation is ineffective, and that laws and prosecutions do not stop the spread of HIV. Furthermore there are gender issues.
Kvinder særligt udsatte
It is well known that women in many African countries are more likely to be blamed for HIV transmission because they are often the first (in a couple) to know their HIV-status – due to the fact that they get tested during pregnancy.
”Criminalisation places women at greater risk of victimization, including in the context of prosecuting them for transmitting HIV to their babies. I hate to think how these laws will be applied in a continent like Africa where there is little access to justice”, Michel Sidibé noted.
One reason why criminalisation is ineffective lies in the nature of the epidemic.
”HIV epidemics are driven by those who do not yet have an HIV diagnosis, not by people who know their status. The high number of undiagnosed infections means that relying on disclosure by someone else to protect oneself – and prosecuting people for non-disclosure – can and does lead to a false sense of security”, says Matthew Weait, who is an internationally renowned expert in HIV and the law.
He, together with experts from all over the world, published a declaration on HIV criminalisation which was developed as a result of the consultancy in Oslo. It can be found here: [www.hivjustice.net/oslo].
The purpose of the declaration is to inform decision-makers and law-makers about the harmful effects of HIV criminalisation.
Matthew Weait will be in Copenhagen on the 12th of March to take part in a seminar on HIV criminalisation in a global perspective, organised by Aidsnet (the Danish NGO Network on AIDS and Development).
On the panel will be another expert who took part in the Oslo-consultancy, Kevin Osborne, who is a Senior HIV/AIDS Adviser in IPPF (International Planned Parenthood Federation). The seminar will focus on advocacy on de-criminalisation of HIV in the South.
More information about the Copenhagen seminar on HIV criminalisation: www.aidsnet.dk
Registration is required to e-mail: [email protected]
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Jakob Haff og Anders Dahl er begge forskere og konsulenter på hiv-området og har været det i årtier. Er henholdsvis antropolog og kultursociolog.
