title: The Global Commission on HIV and the Law: recommendations for legal reform to promote sexual and reproductive health and rights.
abstract: The Global Commission on HIV and the Law was established in 2010 to identify and analyse the complex framework of international, national, religious and customary law shaping national responses to HIV and the well-being of people living with HIV and key populations. Two years of deliberation, based on an exhaustive review of international public health and human rights scholarship, as well as almost 700 testimonials from individuals and organizations in more than 130 countries, informed the Commission's recommendations on reform to laws and practices that criminalize those living with and vulnerable to HIV, sustain or mitigate violence and discrimination lived by women, facilitate or impede access to HIV-related treatment, and/or pertain to children and young people in the context of HIV. This paper presents the Commission's findings and recommendations as they relate to sexual and reproductive health and rights, and examines how the Commission's work intersects with strategic litigation on forced sterilization of women living with HIV, legal reform on the status of transgender individuals, initiatives to improve police treatment of female sex workers, and equal property rights for women living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.
authors.affiliation: Former Vice-Chair, Global Commission on HIV and the Law, CITY, COUNTRY. Electronic address: shereen.ef@theglobalexperts.org.
authors.forename: Shereen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: El Feki
authors.affiliation: Policy Advisor, HIV, Rights, Law and Treatment Access, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), New York NY, USA.
authors.forename: Tenu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Avafia
authors.affiliation: Policy Analyst, HIV, Health and Human Rights, UNDP, New York NY, USA.
authors.forename: Tania Martins
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Fidalgo
authors.affiliation: Consultant, Key Populations and Human Rights, UNDP, New York NY, USA.
authors.forename: Vivek
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Divan
authors.affiliation: Former Member, Global Commission on HIV and the Law; Cluster Leader, Inclusive Political Processes Cluster, Bureau for Development Policy, UNDP, New York NY, USA.
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chauvel
authors.affiliation: Director, HIV, Health and Development Practice, UNDP, New York NY, USA.
authors.forename: Mandeep
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dhaliwal
authors.affiliation: Cluster Leader, Governance and Human Rights Cluster, HIV, Health and Development Practice, UNDP, New York NY, USA.
authors.forename: Clifton
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cortez
mesh_terms: D017954:Africa South of the Sahara; D003416:Criminal Law; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000517:prevention & control; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D007843:Latin America; D008297:Male; D060728:Reproductive Health / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D046269:Reproductive Rights / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D011477:Sex Work / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D013245:Sterilization, Reproductive / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D063106:Transgender Persons / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D014480:United Nations; D014754:Violence