End HIV Criminalization: Endorse the CCRHC’s call to the federal government.
As the HIV community prepares to mark World AIDS Day on December 1st, the Government of Canada has yet to take concrete action to end what it has recognized as the overly broad use of the criminal law against people living with HIV.
The Canadian Coalition to Reform HIV Criminalization (CCRHC) is a national coalition of people living with HIV, community organizations, lawyers, researchers and others dedicated to ending discriminatory, unjust prosecutions against people living with HIV.
For many months, the CCHRC and its individual members have been engaging with the federal government, as well as some provincial governments, calling for action. Some modest progress has been made in some provinces, but far too little action has yet been taken.
The Coalition has developed a Statement to the Attorney General and Minister of Justice of Canada, asking the government to follow through on its stated concern about HIV criminalization and its report released on World AIDS Day last year.
Unless the federal government acts on the recommendations set out in its own report, and the actions previously called for by the CCRHC and the HIV community, people living with HIV in Canada will continue to be unfairly singled out for criminal prosecutions and imprisonment.
The CCRHC is now seeking wide endorsement of this statement by organizations in Canada involved in human rights and the response to HIV. (Please note we are only gathering organizational endorsements.)
This statement will be sent to the federal Justice Minister later this month, and then released publicly in the lead-up to World AIDS Day, to keep up the pressure for action to end the ongoing injustice of misguided, unscientific and stigmatizing prosecutions.
Please read and sign on to the statement on behalf of your organization by November 14th