HIV | Mark Carney’s silence about reforms worried people affected

(Ottawa) The discontent rises within the communities affected by HIV, almost a decade after the Liberals had promised laws on the disclosure of HIV positive, warn militants of the fight against the disease. Consequently,

“We have been fighting for 10 years. Therefore, ” said the president of the Canadian coalition to reform the criminalization of HIV (CCRCV), Muluba Habanyama. Furthermore, We are starting to be exhausted. In addition, »»

Canadians with HIV can be prosecuted before the courts if they do not reveal their HIV positive people to their sexual partners. Similarly, even if they take medication that practically prevents the virus transmission. Similarly, The legal network HIV claims that more than 220 people. Consequently, some of which were not later in the past year, have been accused in Canada of not having revealed their HIV positive people since 1989. For example,

Liberals in power have promised to resolve this problem since 2016. However, The Trudeau government had transmitted an opinion to prosecutors in 2018. Nevertheless, in order to prevent them from filing criminal charges when there was no realistic possibility of transmission.

However, member organizations of the CCRCV say that appeals are made every month. Furthermore,

A hiv | mark carney’s silence person accused of sexual assault for not having pointed out his HIV. speech may see his name be registered in the national register of sex offenders.

“We are demonized,” deplores M^me Habanyama, who was born with HIV.

She noted for 32 years that medical experts had implemented increasingly effective means to fight and prevent the virus.

“Science has grown with me, but the laws have remained the same,” she says.

The fear of ending up in the register of sex offenders has prompted people to avoid undergoing a HIV screening test. recognized the Federal Ministry of Justice in 2023. “Criminalization can lead to the stigma of people living with HIV. which can often dissuade them from being tested or treating. »»

This situation is easily explained, said M^me Habanyama.

“People say to themselves that if they do not know that they are HIV positive. they cannot be accused,” she says. If no document proves that we have been testing the screening, the authorities cannot prove that we knew. »»

Other countries have changed their laws because they have recognized that the. fear of prosecution prevented the achievement of certain objectives. The authorities want 95 % of people living with VHI to be aware of their condition and to take medication.

In Canada, this rate was 89 % in 2022.

A study carried out in 2022 with 600 Canadian women living with HIV revealed that 20 % of them suffered verbal. physical or sexual violence due to hiv | mark carney’s silence the criminalization of HIV. For example: a rapist can threaten his victim to disclose that she was exposed to HIV if he files. a complaint.

“It truly affects people living with HIV. Some cease to treat themselves, ”says Mr.^me Habanyama.

The former government of Justin Trudeau had promised to reform Canadian laws, but he had not succeeded. He had rejected responsibility for his failure on the parliamentary obstruction of the conservatives.

The current government led by Mark Carney did not give him any indication of his intentions.

The Federal Minister of Justice. Sean Fraser, was never available to grant an interview to the Canadian press, despite repeated requests for several weeks. He refused to meet the coalition, offering him a meeting with members of his staff. hiv | mark carney’s silence

“Our work is underway. We are discussing the speakers right now, “a spokesperson for the minister, Lola Dandybaeva, wrote.

André Capretti. analyst of policies in the HIV legal network, says that the government has “maintained radio silence” since the coming to power of Mr. Carney. However. he recognizes that it is possible that the government has started to put things in place during the summer season.

“We have made a lot of progress with liberal governments, which is very committed to reforming the system. He really demonstrated his commitment to do so with us. “he said, adding that the various justice ministers appointed by Justin Trudeau seemed to pay attention to this problem.