Values and Principles

Values and Principles

Mission

The mission of HIV JUSTICE WORLDWIDE is to seek to abolish criminal and similar laws, policies and practices that regulate, control and punish people living with HIV based on their HIV positive status.

Part I. What we Believe

  • We believe that HIV criminalisation is discriminatory, a violation of human rights, undermines public health, and is detrimental to individual health and well-being.
  • We believe HIV criminalisation to be part of a larger problem of scapegoating, targeting, harassment, and policing of vulnerable and marginalised communities.
  • We believe that efforts to end HIV criminalisation should be led by those most impacted, including people living with HIV and organisations, networks, and institutions led by people living with HIV and/or those most impacted by these laws and prosecutions.
  • We believe that the perspectives of those most impacted by an issue should be central to the decision-making processes.
  • We believe that regional differences matter, and we respect local knowledge and local leadership.

Part II. Our Commitments

  • We commit to an intersectional approach to our HIV criminalisation work, which includes active allyship with other criminalised communities.
  • We commit to leadership by constituencies most impacted by criminalisation and who will be most affected by any decisions made by the Steering Committee.
  • We commit to support equitable engagement by partners and constituents.
  • We commit to transparency in our work, including financial and decision-making transparency.

Part III. Our Approach

  • We approach our work with the intention of supporting a growing, global movement to end HIV criminalisation and the criminalisation of communities most affected by HIV.
  • To this end, we value collaborative relationships and strategic alliances with other partners who share our mission, values, and goals.
  • We value co-ordination, strategy and transparency, such that resources are maximised and shared towards our vision of a world where the criminalisation of people living with HIV is eradicated.