AAE has been increasingly involved in activities around advocacy against HIV-criminalisation, with a production of a comprehensive legal report of 10 EU/EEA countries within the framework of our European HIV Legal Forum (EHLF) project and via our participation in the Steering Committee of the HIV Justice Worldwide (HJWW) movement.
Despite the progress of scientific evidence and recent positive developments in the practice surrounding investigations and prosecutions in some European countries, criminalisation of HIV transmission, exposure, and non-disclosure, HIV-criminalisation remains a key issue both for PLHIV and for preventative measures across the Region. According to the latest data from the Global HIVCriminalisation Database10, 16 countries in the Region have HIV-specific criminalisation laws, and 24 countries have prosecuted PLHIV for alleged exposure. A further 28 countries have prosecuted PLHIV for alleged transmission of HIV. Besides harming the human rights of PLHIV and key affected populations, HIV-criminalisation also harms HIV prevention efforts. It increases HIV-stigma and deters people, particularly those in key populations, from testing and learning their status.
