June 6, 2011 - The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network is holding its 3 rd Annual Symposium on HIV, Law and Human
Rights: "Litigating for Change" in Toronto on June 9-10. Over 150 policy-makers, legal professionals, health
researchers, activists and people living with or vulnerable to HIV/AIDS will gather from across Canada to address a number
of controversial topics on HIV and human rights. For a full agenda and list of presenters,
see www.aidslaw.ca/symposium .
Over the two-day event, workshops and panel discussions with leading experts in law, human rights, and communications will explore
a range of high-profile issues, with an emphasis on strategic litigation as a means of securing protections for members of vulnerable
communities. Community leaders and activists will also share their perspectives and experiences of turning to the courts to advance
human rights. Presentations will be heard from key players in newsmaking court-cases relating to the criminalization of
HIV non-disclosure, Canada 's sex work laws, and the ongoing Supreme Court battle over Insite, Vancouver 's safe-injection
facility.
The timing of this year's Symposium is particularly critical. This event coincides with discussions of the global state
of the pandemic at the UN High Level Meeting on AIDS in New York City , as well as with the 30 th anniversary of the "discovery" of
AIDS. It also comes one week before the Ontario Court of Appeal hears arguments in Bedford v. Canada , a
challenge to Ontario's prostitution laws - offering a rare opportunity to hear a guest lecture by counsel in that case,
Alan Young, Associate Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School, on the eve of this historic and potentially
precedent-setting constitutional challenge to Canada's prostitution laws that harm sex
workers. The Legal Network and Human Rights Watch will also
jointly present the 2011 Awards for Action on HIV and Human Rights preceding Alan Young's lecture.
What: 3 rd Symposium on HIV, Law and Human
Rights,
featuring an array of high-profile leaders and activists,
detailed at www.aidslaw.ca/symposium
When: Thursday, June 9 - Friday, June 10
Where: Novotel Toronto Centre, 45 The Esplanade,
Toronto
What: Public lecture by Alan
Young , counsel in Bedford v. Canada and
2011 Awards for Action on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights , presented jointly by the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal
Network and Human Rights Watch to:
• The Caribbean Vulnerable Communities coalition and its late co-founder, Dr. Robert Carr (International Recipient)
• Prisoners' HIV/AIDS Support Action Network (Canadian Recipient)
When: Thursday, June 9, 6:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
(doors open at 6:00 p.m.)
free public admission, reception to follow
Where: Novotel Toronto Centre, 45 The Esplanade, Toronto
About the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network
Since 1992, the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network ( www.aidslaw.ca ) has been
promoting the human rights of people living with and vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, in Canada and internationally, through research,
legal and policy analysis, education, and community mobilization. The Legal Network is one of the world's leading
advocacy organizations working on the legal and human rights issues raised by HIV/AIDS.
Janet Butler -McPhee
Director of Communications
Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network
jbutler@aidslaw.ca
+1 416 595-1666 ext. 228
+1 416 268-2549 (cell)
Reproduced with permission - "Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network"
Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network
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