At the start of the AIDS epidemic, most countries in the world criminalized same-sex sexuality. As of this year, 129 countries — two thirds of states — do not criminalize same-sex sex, representing a significant reversal. However, despite this critical milestone, anti-LGBTQ+ persecution is on the rise in some countries, undermining progress to end AIDS. Experts from the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+) will discuss these findings and more from a new HIV Policy Lab Report.
Who: The O’Neill Institute, UNAIDS, UNDP, and GNP+
What: An embargoed media briefing of “Progress and the Peril: HIV and the Global Decriminalization of Same-sex Sex,” the new HIV Policy Lab report which reviews the state of laws criminalizing same-sex sex across 195 countries
Experts from the O’Neill Institute, UNAIDS, UNDP, and GNP+, will discuss key findings from the report — including the recent historic decriminalization of same-sex sex, the link between decriminalization and progress in the global AIDS/HIV response, and the troubling reverse trend of anti-LGBTQ+ laws, prosecution, and discrimination.
When: Tuesday, November 14, 2023
9 a.m. EST | 3 p.m. CET | 4 p.m. SAST
Where: Zoom
Speakers:
- Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director, UNAIDS; United Nations Under-Secretary-General
- Matthew Kavanagh, Director, Center for Global Health Policy & Politics, O’Neill Institute; Department of Global Health, School of Health, Georgetown University
- Mandeep Dhaliwal, Director, HIV and Health Group, UNDP
- Florence Riako Anam, Co-Executive Director, GNP+
- Vivek Divan, Head and Coordinator, Centre for Health Equity, Law & Policy, Indian Law Society
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For any questions, please contact Heena Patel at hp498@georgetown.edu