New York — This week marks a significant moment for the Center for HIV Law and Policy (CHLP), an organization that has spearheaded initiatives against unjust HIV criminalization laws for two decades. As they celebrate their 20th anniversary, CHLP has launched several events and resources aimed at addressing and reforming laws that disproportionately affect marginalized communities.
CHLP has recently updated its detailed maps that monitor HIV criminalization across the United States. To detail the revisions and introduce new features of these maps, a webinar is scheduled for Wednesday. This session promises to be an important resource for advocates and policymakers aiming to understand the landscape of HIV-related legislation.
The celebration continues on Thursday in New York City where CHLP will host an event marking its 20 years of advocacy. During this celebration, the inaugural Urvashi Vaid Visionary Justice Award will be presented to Catherine Hanssens, CHLP’s founding executive director. Hanssens is being honored for her pioneering efforts in the battle against HIV criminalization. The award, named after the esteemed LGBTQ rights lawyer and justice advocate Urvashi Vaid, symbolizes the ongoing commitment to legal reform and advocacy in the HIV community.
On Friday, attention turns to the annual HIV Is Not a Crime Awareness Day, spearheaded by The Sero Project in partnership with the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation and other global organizations. The day is a call to action to abolish laws that unjustly penalize individuals based on their HIV status, rather than their actions, and highlights the continuous work needed during legislative sessions to protect those living with HIV.
HIV criminalization often targets African-American, Latino, LGBTQ individuals, and women, focusing on their health status rather than actual criminal behavior. These laws were predominantly enacted in the early stages of the AIDS epidemic, driven by fear and misinformation. Today’s understanding of HIV has evolved significantly; for instance, it is now known that individuals with an undetectable viral load cannot sexually transmit the virus, a concept summarized by the campaign “Undetectable Equals Untransmittable,” or U=U.
To facilitate a broader understanding and push for legal reforms, CHLP has refined its map of HIV criminalization. This tool is a critical asset for advocates looking to highlight areas where outdated laws still exist and need revision. The upcoming webinar on Wednesday will further explore these themes and is an invitation for community engagement and feedback.
For two decades, CHLP has stood as a national legal and policy resource dedicated to defending the rights of people impacted by HIV. From its early days, it has worked alongside advocates, prioritizing the effects of HIV on LGBTQ+ individuals and communities of color, and employing an abolitionist approach to its advocacy.
As CHLP’s executive director S. Mandisa Moore-O’Neal points out, the mission remains as crucial as ever. Heading into 2025, the organization continues its work with renewed clarity and resolve, advocating for freedom from criminalization, championing bodily autonomy, and persistently upholding abolitionist values.
This pivotal period for CHLP underscores the ongoing urgency and relevance of their work, as well as the broader movement towards justice and equity in public health. As the organization steps into its third decade, its foundational principles continue to guide a path forward for everyone involved in this collective struggle.
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