HIV/AIDS Policy & Law Review, Volume 14, Number 1 ... - CATIE

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS
Minister of the Interior issued a press
statement in which she declared the
police action was part of the government’s
“fight against a sociopathological
phenomenon in society and to
eliminate street prostitution.”
The Minister also stated the testing
had been done to find out if the
“arrested prostitutes” were purposefully
spreading infectious diseases,
and that those who tested positive
would face criminal charges.
On 3 December, the Ministry of
the Interior issued a news release
stating that seven of the detained
women had tested positive for the
hepatitis C virus (HCV) and were
now facing criminal charges for
allegedly “transmitting an infectious
disease.” 2
On 17 December, The Canadian
HIV/AIDS Legal Network and
Human Rights Watch (HRW) wrote
a letter to the Minister of the Interior
and other government officials
“strongly condemning the police
actions.”
The letter stated that “the actions
of the police, and of the Minister,
and your Government, violate human
rights protected under international
law, … are inconsistent with sound,
ethical public health practice and will
likely serve to undermine efforts to
protect and promote public health.” 3
The letter was endorsed by 35 other
organizations and individuals.
The letter pointed out that:
• detaining individuals in order to
conduct forced medical procedures
violates the right to security
of the person;
• the conduct of the policy and the
government violated the right to
privacy of those detained, and
constituted inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment; and
• forcibly testing someone for HIV
or HCV is a violation of both
bodily integrity and privacy.
The letter also expressed concern that
seven of the women arrested face
criminal charges of “transmission of
an infectious disease” even though
HCV is generally not considered a
sexually transmitted infection, and
prosecutors and police have not identified
any evidence suggesting that
actual transmission of HCV occurred
in a circumstance involving any of
those arrested.
The letter stated that
the actions of police and the Ministry
of the Interior in this case — mass
arrests, abusive policing, forced medical
testing, violations of privacy and
criminal prosecutions — undermine
not only sex workers’ basic human
rights but also public health objectives,
by impeding voluntary testing
for HIV and HCV and by increasing
stigma and discrimination against
those most vulnerable to sexually
transmitted infections. 4
This latest crackdown and incident
of forced HIV and HCV testing by
police is occurring in a context of
violence against sex workers (including
police violence and extortion) and
their unequal access to police protection.
5 The letter stated that
police targeting of sex workers contributes
to higher HIV risk in many
ways, such as making sex workers
reluctant to carry condoms if these
will be used as evidence to support
prostitution charges, forcing sex workers
to rush negotiations with clients
which can lead to unsafe sex, or compelling
sex workers to accept unsafe
sex demanded by clients in order to
pay off fines or respond to police
extortion. 6
The Legal Network and HRW called
upon the Macedonian Government to
(among other things):
• stop forced testing of its citizens;
• ensure that all future testing for
sexually transmitted infections
involves informed consent, preand
post-test counselling, and
guaranteed confidentiality of test
results;
• ensure access to necessary medical
care for arrested sex workers
who need it;
• investigate the causes, procedures
and consequences of these latest
arrests; and
• re-examine laws relating to the
criminalization of sex workers,
in light of the evidence that such
criminalization undermines both
health and human rights. 7
1
“Open Letter to the Government of Macedonia
Regarding Criminal Prosecution of Alleged Sex Workers,”
Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, HRW and 35 other
organisations, 17 December 2008, online via
www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/12/17/
open-letter-government-macedonia.
2
On file with the Legal Network.
3
“Open letter…”
4
Ibid.
5
See A.L. Crago et al, “Central and Eastern Europe and
Central Asia: Police raids and violence put sex workers at
risk of HIV,” HIV/AIDS Policy & Law Review 13(2/3) (2008):
71–72.
6
“Open letter…”
7
Ibid.
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