AIDSLEX (the AIDS and Law Exchange) has just launched with an extensive section on the criminalisation of HIV exposure and transmission.
This web portal is likely to become an essential tool for anyone interested in HIV, human rights and the law, since it facilitates the sharing of information, strategies, resources and materials. Although most materials are currently in English, the site is also available in French, Spanish and Russian.
One of the main benefits of AIDSLEX is its e-Library containing a growing searchable database of over 2700 documents, including 116 (so far) on criminalisation. Individuals and organisations working in the field are encouraged to upload further documents. There is also the People Connector and a forum.
Finally, there is an Ask the Experts section. Featured first is an excellent interview with Edwin Cameron on criminalisation, which concludes thus:
We need to understand that the first reaction from many people, when thinking about HIV criminalization, is to support it. But better reflection mostly turns the tide. We – the community of people committed to justice and rationality in this epidemic – must do more to get our message out there. We must make the arguments that stigma fuels fear, and fear drives people away from rational self-protection and protection of others. The safest, surest route to effective HIV containment is just laws that protect people with HIV and encourage them to be tested and to talk freely and “normally” about their infection. In most countries, we have a very long way to go before achieving that. Criminal laws drive us even further away.
