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The right to health and international drug control, compulsory treatment for drug dependence and access to controlled medicines 2010, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- The enjoyment of the right to health of all people who use drugs - and are dependent on drugs - is applicable irrespective of the fact of their drug use. It is important that drug use and drug dependence are not conflated: drug dependence is considered a chronic, relapsing disorder involving altered brain function that may require medical treatment, ideally utilizing a "biopsychosocial" approach. By contrast, drug use is not a medical condition and does not necessarily imply dependence. Indeed the majority of people who use drugs do not become dependent and do not require any treatment.
- Organe
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Type de document
- Special Procedures' report
- Thèmes
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Personnes concernées
- All
- Année
- 2010
- Date ajouter
- 19 août 2019
Paragraphe
The right to health and international drug control, compulsory treatment for drug dependence and access to controlled medicines 2010, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- The right to health seeks, inter alia, to ensure access to quality health facilities, goods and services without discrimination, including on the grounds of physical or mental disability, or health status. Article 2, paragraph 2, and article 3 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights also prohibit discrimination in achieving realization of all rights within the Covenant. As such, an individual's use of drugs cannot constitute grounds for curtailing her/his rights, irrespective of whether she or he has a recognized dependence syndrome or whether the applicable drug control regime allows for imprisonment or other sanctions. People who use drugs and people who are dependent on drugs possess the same freedoms and entitlements guaranteed by international legal instruments, and both groups experience violations of their rights under the current international drug control regime.
- Organe
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Type de document
- Special Procedures' report
- Thèmes
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Personnes concernées
- All
- Année
- 2010
- Date ajouter
- 19 août 2019
Paragraphe
The right to health and international drug control, compulsory treatment for drug dependence and access to controlled medicines 2010, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- A number of United Nations bodies enforce the three drug control treaties and are required to promote and protect human rights, as identified in Articles 1 and 55 of the Charter of the United Nations. When the goals and approaches of the international drug control regime and international human rights regime conflict, it is clear that human rights obligations should prevail. The General Assembly has consistently adopted resolutions declaring that international drug control must be carried out in conformity with the Charter, and "with full respect for human rights" (see resolutions 62/176 and 63/197).
- Organe
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Type de document
- Special Procedures' report
- Thèmes
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Personnes concernées
- All
- N.A.
- Année
- 2010
- Date ajouter
- 19 août 2019
Paragraphe
The right to health and international drug control, compulsory treatment for drug dependence and access to controlled medicines 2010, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- The International Narcotics Control Board oversees implementation of all three drug conventions. It monitors illicit drug production and trade, as well as access to controlled substances for scientific and medicinal purposes, and has the authority to investigate Governments that do not comply with treaty requirements. The Commission on Narcotic Drugs classifies narcotic and psychotropic drugs under different levels of restriction and serves as the governing body for the United Nations International Drug Control Programme within the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The Office is mandated "to contribute to the achievement of security and justice for all by making the world safer from drugs, crime and terrorism".
- Organe
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Type de document
- Special Procedures' report
- Thèmes
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Personnes concernées
- All
- Année
- 2010
- Date ajouter
- 19 août 2019
Paragraphe
The right to health and international drug control, compulsory treatment for drug dependence and access to controlled medicines 2010, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- Unfortunately, the current approach to global drug control maintains that drugs are an undisputable "evil", which the international community has a "duty to combat". The concept of a war on drugs is used to justify extreme policies and practices. The links drawn between drug production and the funding of armed groups, for example between opium growers and the Taliban in Afghanistan, have further justified a zero-tolerance approach, even though such policies are increasingly shown to be ineffective in reducing the supply of and demand for drugs. Therefore, this approach not only fails to achieve its primary stated aim - preventing health-related harms of drug use - but also fails to achieve genuine drug control.
- Organe
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Type de document
- Special Procedures' report
- Thèmes
- Health
- Personnes concernées
- All
- Année
- 2010
- Date ajouter
- 19 août 2019
Paragraphe
The right to health and international drug control, compulsory treatment for drug dependence and access to controlled medicines 2010, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- The war-on-drugs approach also fails to acknowledge the realities of drug use and dependence and, for that reason, has been unsuccessful in achieving its stated aims. First, people invariably continue using drugs irrespective of criminal laws, even though deterrence of drug use is considered the primary justification for imposition of penal sanctions. Second, drug dependence, as distinct from drug use, is a medical condition requiring appropriate, evidence-based treatment - not criminal sanctions. Finally, punitive drug control regimes increase the harms associated with drug use by directing resources towards inappropriate methods and misguided solutions, while neglecting evidence-based approaches.
- Organe
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Type de document
- Special Procedures' report
- Thèmes
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Personnes concernées
- All
- Année
- 2010
- Date ajouter
- 19 août 2019
Paragraphe
The right to health and international drug control, compulsory treatment for drug dependence and access to controlled medicines 2010, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- Drug use may have harmful health consequences, but the Special Rapporteur is concerned that the current drug control approach creates more harm than the harms it seeks to prevent. Criminalization of drug use, designed to deter drug use, possession and trafficking, has failed. Instead, it has perpetuated risky forms of drug use, while disproportionately punishing people who use drugs. Its ramifications for the health of the wider community, particularly in relation to HIV/AIDS, are no less severe: the 2010 Vienna Declaration notes that the criminalization of illicit drug users is fuelling the HIV epidemic. Millennium Development Goal 6 requires States to commit to halting and beginning to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015 (see General Assembly resolution 55/2), but continuing criminalization directly contradicts several multilateral health policies.
- Organe
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Type de document
- Special Procedures' report
- Thèmes
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Personnes concernées
- All
- Année
- 2010
- Date ajouter
- 19 août 2019
Paragraphe
The right to health and international drug control, compulsory treatment for drug dependence and access to controlled medicines 2010, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- Health is a human right that is indispensable for the exercise of other human rights. Countries that are overly punitive in sentencing also violate other rights of people who use drugs. Thirty-two jurisdictions currently retain the death penalty for drug offences, some mandatorily. Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights allows for imposition of the death sentence only for "the most serious crimes" (General Assembly resolution 2200 A (XXI)). The Human Rights Committee and the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions have confirmed that drug offences do not meet those criteria, and thus executions for drug offences are in violation of international human rights law.
- Organe
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Type de document
- Special Procedures' report
- Thèmes
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Personnes concernées
- All
- Année
- 2010
- Date ajouter
- 19 août 2019
Paragraphe
The right to health and international drug control, compulsory treatment for drug dependence and access to controlled medicines 2010, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- Criminalization of drug use and possession are implicated in violation of several human rights, including the right to health. Other infringements of the right to health are less direct, but occur as by-products of the skewed focus of the international drug control regime: for instance, insufficient access to essential medications. The Special Rapporteur considers that each of these violations is traceable ultimately to a disproportionate focus on criminalization and law enforcement practices at the expense of the enjoyment of the right to health and reduction of harms associated with drugs.
- Organe
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Type de document
- Special Procedures' report
- Thèmes
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Personnes concernées
- All
- Année
- 2010
- Date ajouter
- 19 août 2019
Paragraphe
The right to health and international drug control, compulsory treatment for drug dependence and access to controlled medicines 2010, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- In countries where the "war on drugs" is zealously pursued or drug laws are enforced stringently, those who are dependent on drugs may be, and often are, discouraged from accessing health services. It is reported that in some countries this approach has reinforced the status of people who use drugs as social outcasts, driving drug use underground, compromising the HIV/AIDS response, as well as discouraging people who use drugs from accessing treatment. And where HIV infections occur through unsafe injecting practices, seroprevalence among injecting drug users can be as high as 50 per cent.
- Organe
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Type de document
- Special Procedures' report
- Thèmes
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Personnes concernées
- All
- Année
- 2010
- Date ajouter
- 19 août 2019
Paragraphe
The right to health and international drug control, compulsory treatment for drug dependence and access to controlled medicines 2010, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- People who use drugs are often subjected to discrimination in medical settings. Access to antiretroviral (ARV) therapy can be low for people who use drugs: in Eastern Europe, although 70 per cent of reported cases of HIV occurred among people who injected drugs, this group comprised 39 per cent of the total population of people living with HIV receiving ARV therapy. This may be attributed to structural inequalities that impede access of these groups to the therapy; for instance, lack of targeted interventions. Cases of health-care providers, however, denying ARV treatment to people who use drugs also have been noted, in direct contravention of a right-to-health approach.
- Organe
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Type de document
- Special Procedures' report
- Thèmes
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Personnes concernées
- All
- Année
- 2010
- Date ajouter
- 19 août 2019
Paragraphe
The right to health and international drug control, compulsory treatment for drug dependence and access to controlled medicines 2010, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- Individuals may also be denied access to other medical treatments on the grounds of their prior or current drug use, where evidence does not exist to justify the denial of such treatment. For example, in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland it is reported that past or current users of drugs have been denied treatment for the hepatitis C virus, contrary to official guidance, on the basis that they would not adhere to treatment. Treatment adherence among people who use drugs is not necessarily lower, and should be assessed on an individual basis.
- Organe
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Type de document
- Special Procedures' report
- Thèmes
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Personnes concernées
- All
- Année
- 2010
- Date ajouter
- 19 août 2019
Paragraphe
The right to health and international drug control, compulsory treatment for drug dependence and access to controlled medicines 2010, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- Criminalization of drug use and possession also may lead to an increased risk of illness among people who use drugs. Higher rates of legal repression have been associated with higher HIV prevalence among people who use injecting drugs, without a decrease in prevalence of injecting drug use. This is a likely result of individuals' adopting riskier injection practices such as sharing of syringes and injection supplies, hurried injecting, or use of drugs in unsafe places (such as needle-shooting galleries) out of fear of arrest or punishment. Hurried preparation of drugs to avoid detection by law enforcement agents also predisposes people who inject drugs to an increased risk of overdose, vascular accident and infections, such as abscesses. These risks may be exacerbated by an individual's reluctance, out of fear, to utilize assistance in preparing and injecting drugs.
- Organe
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Type de document
- Special Procedures' report
- Thèmes
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Personnes concernées
- All
- Année
- 2010
- Date ajouter
- 19 août 2019
Paragraphe
The right to health and international drug control, compulsory treatment for drug dependence and access to controlled medicines 2010, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- Currently over 9 million people are held in penal institutions worldwide. In many prisons, rates of HIV infection are noted to be several times higher than in the mainstream community. This is attributed to injecting drug use prior to imprisonment, as well as risk factors within these populations, such as poverty and marginalization. The prevalence of hepatitis infections within prisons is also high, with hepatitis C infection rates exceeding those of HIV. Once in prison, high rates of injecting drug use, combined with a lack of access to OST and sterile injecting equipment, create enormous risk for inmates. That risk is then passed on to members of the public upon prisoners' release. Failure to implement effective harm-reduction programmes and drug-dependence treatment in those settings violates the enjoyment of the right to health.
- Organe
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Type de document
- Special Procedures' report
- Thèmes
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Personnes concernées
- All
- Année
- 2010
- Date ajouter
- 19 août 2019
Paragraphe
The right to health and international drug control, compulsory treatment for drug dependence and access to controlled medicines 2010, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- Some of the most egregious violations of the right to health have occurred in the context of "treatment" for drug dependence. Criminalization of drug use fuels the perception that people who use drugs are unproductive criminals or moral degenerates, which in turn allows disciplinary treatment approaches to proliferate. In place of evidence-based medical management, Governments and enforcement authorities coerce or force drug-dependent individuals into centres where they are subject to ill-treatment and forced labour. This approach discriminates against people who use drugs, denying them their right to access medically appropriate health-care services and treatment.
- Organe
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Type de document
- Special Procedures' report
- Thèmes
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Personnes concernées
- All
- Année
- 2010
- Date ajouter
- 19 août 2019
Paragraphe
The right to health and international drug control, compulsory treatment for drug dependence and access to controlled medicines 2010, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- The present report concerns compulsory treatment programmes that primarily utilize disciplinary interventions, disregarding medical evidence. In such settings, medical professionals who are trained to manage drug dependence disorders as medical illnesses are often inaccessible. Forced labour, solitary confinement and experimental treatments administered without consent violate international human rights law and are illegitimate substitutes for evidence-based measures such as substitution therapy, psychological interventions and other forms of treatment given with full, informed consent.
- Organe
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Type de document
- Special Procedures' report
- Thèmes
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Personnes concernées
- All
- Année
- 2010
- Date ajouter
- 19 août 2019
Paragraphe
The right to health and international drug control, compulsory treatment for drug dependence and access to controlled medicines 2010, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- The enjoyment of the right to health includes, inter alia, access to health facilities, goods and services that are scientifically and medically appropriate and of good quality and the "right to be free from interference, such as the right to be free from torture, non-consensual medical treatment and experimentation". Moreover, article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights declares that "no one shall be subjected without his free consent to medical or scientific experimentation". States are obliged to respect, protect and fulfil the enjoyment of the right to health, including by refraining from using coercive medical treatments, except in the narrowest possible circumstances for the treatment of mental illness or the prevention and control of communicable diseases. The requirements of informed consent must be observed in administering any treatment for drug dependence - including the right to refuse treatment.
- Organe
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Type de document
- Special Procedures' report
- Thèmes
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Personnes concernées
- All
- Année
- 2010
- Date ajouter
- 19 août 2019
Paragraphe
The right to health and international drug control, compulsory treatment for drug dependence and access to controlled medicines 2010, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- As examined in a previous report of the Special Rapporteur, informed consent to treatment is a cornerstone of the right to health, the requirements of which would be satisfied on extremely rare occasions in forced administration of punitive treatment. Decisions regarding capacity and competence, and the need to obtain informed consent, must be made on a case-by-case basis. Treatment en masse prima facie fails to meet this requirement. In some countries, it is reported that people who use drugs have been arrested en masse and forced into compulsory treatment centres. This approach leads to forced treatment of individuals based on inadequate, cursory medical examinations - if they are undertaken at all.
- Organe
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Type de document
- Special Procedures' report
- Thèmes
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Personnes concernées
- All
- Année
- 2010
- Date ajouter
- 19 août 2019
Paragraphe
The right to health and international drug control, compulsory treatment for drug dependence and access to controlled medicines 2010, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- Emergency obstetric procedures and management of epilepsy also require use of scheduled medications, and remain inadequately resourced. Post-partum haemorrhage results in over 100,000 maternal deaths annually. Oxytocin and ergometrine, two controlled drugs used in obstetric procedures, are difficult to access yet reduce the risk of severe post-partum bleeding by more than half. Similarly, around 75 per cent of people with epilepsy in developing countries and up to 90 per cent of patients with epilepsy in Africa do not receive treatment with essential medicines, including phenobarbital, partly because it is a controlled substance.
- Organe
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Type de document
- Special Procedures' report
- Thèmes
- Health
- Personnes concernées
- All
- Année
- 2010
- Date ajouter
- 19 août 2019
Paragraphe
The right to health and international drug control, compulsory treatment for drug dependence and access to controlled medicines 2010, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- The ineffectiveness of the current international drug control system must be understood, and reform undertaken at all policymaking levels. National governments should implement harm reduction programmes and policies, decriminalize or de-penalize drug use and possession, and reform regulations concerning essential medicines. United Nations drug control bodies must ensure system-wide coherence by adopting a human rights-based approach to drug control, which necessarily requires recognition of international human rights as central to their operations, and these changes in the international system should also guide and legitimize domestic reforms.
- Organe
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Type de document
- Special Procedures' report
- Thèmes
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Personnes concernées
- All
- Année
- 2010
- Date ajouter
- 19 août 2019
Paragraphe
The right to health and international drug control, compulsory treatment for drug dependence and access to controlled medicines 2010, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- The United Nations has declared that outreach activities, needle and syringe programmes and evidence-based drug dependence treatment (including OST) should be implemented to minimize the risk of transmission of HIV among those who use drugs. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recognized that harm reduction forms a central part of national responses to illicit drug dependence and it has made recommendations to States Parties. The Human Rights Council, in resolution 12/27, also recognized the need for "a comprehensive package of services for injecting drug users, including harm-reduction programmes in relation to HIV".
- Organe
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Type de document
- Special Procedures' report
- Thèmes
- Health
- Personnes concernées
- All
- Année
- 2010
- Date ajouter
- 19 août 2019
Paragraphe
The right to health and international drug control, compulsory treatment for drug dependence and access to controlled medicines 2010, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur considers that the continuing imposition of criminal penalties for drug use and possession perpetuates many of the major risks associated with drug use. He advocates for consideration of less restrictive approaches to drug control, including decriminalization or de-penalization. Decriminalization of drug use cannot simply be equated with legalization of drug use. When decriminalized, drug use and possession can remain legally prohibited, but criminal penalties for such offences either are not applied at all or only minor penalties are given. Decriminalization generally entails complete removal of criminal punishment for the conduct in question (administrative penalties may be applied instead), whereas de-penalization requires removal of custodial sentences, although the conduct remains a criminal offence. Legalization, by contrast, involves no prohibitions on the relevant conduct.
- Organe
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Type de document
- Special Procedures' report
- Thèmes
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Personnes concernées
- All
- Année
- 2010
- Date ajouter
- 19 août 2019
Paragraphe
The right to health and international drug control, compulsory treatment for drug dependence and access to controlled medicines 2010, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- Moreover, in 2001, Portugal decriminalized purchase, possession and usage of all illicit drugs for personal use, instead characterizing them as administrative offences. That law allows for imposition of pecuniary or non-pecuniary penalties, and there is a provision for sanctions to be suspended, should the offender undertake treatment. In contrast to the International Narcotics Control Board's reaction to Argentina and Mexico, decriminalization to this extent has been deemed consistent with the 1988 Convention. Decriminalization generally was perceived as the best option for minimizing drug-related problems in Portugal, largely through de stigmatizing drug use and bringing a higher proportion of drug users into treatment, rather than a communication to the public that drug use was condoned.
- Organe
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Type de document
- Special Procedures' report
- Thèmes
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Personnes concernées
- All
- Année
- 2010
- Date ajouter
- 19 août 2019
Paragraphe
The right to health and international drug control, compulsory treatment for drug dependence and access to controlled medicines 2010, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- Several other States have de-penalized various forms of drug use and possession. This has occurred either through legislation to that effect, or de facto de penalization, whereby drug laws are not enforced strictly. Spain maintains criminal sanctions for drug use, although persons tried are never imprisoned for drug consumption alone. In the Netherlands and Germany, possession of drugs for personal use remains de jure unlawful, but punishment is not imposed for breaches of these laws. This, however, is obviously an inadequate solution at best.
- Organe
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Type de document
- Special Procedures' report
- Thèmes
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Personnes concernées
- All
- Année
- 2010
- Date ajouter
- 19 août 2019
Paragraphe
The right to health and international drug control, compulsory treatment for drug dependence and access to controlled medicines 2010, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- It should be noted that, for example in Portugal, decriminalization occurred alongside other efforts, including significant expansion of drug treatment programmes, drug education and refocusing of police efforts on interruption of trafficking operations. This demonstrates how legislative change alone is insufficient to minimize significantly the harms occurring with drug use. Where decriminalization occurs alongside treatment, education and other interventions implemented to the required scale - for instance, to contain the spread of blood-borne viruses - the right to health of all members of society is realized most effectively.
- Organe
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Type de document
- Special Procedures' report
- Thèmes
- Education
- Health
- Personnes concernées
- All
- Année
- 2010
- Date ajouter
- 19 août 2019
Paragraphe
The right to health and international drug control, compulsory treatment for drug dependence and access to controlled medicines 2010, para. 74
- Paragraph text
- The non-prices measures of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control provide the best examples of the protections and regulations that may replace the existing enforcement-based framework. Such measures include regulation of drug content, education and awareness-building, and measures concerning dependence reduction and cessation. Implementation of these measures would secure the right to health by, inter alia, ensuring supply of unadulterated drugs, increasing individual and community awareness to minimize risk, and ensuring access to appropriate treatment, where necessary. There generally are high levels of implementation among Parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control on nearly all of these measures, suggesting similar possibilities for currently controlled drugs.
- Organe
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Type de document
- Special Procedures' report
- Thèmes
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Personnes concernées
- All
- N.A.
- Année
- 2010
- Date ajouter
- 19 août 2019
Paragraphe
Right to health and criminalization of same-sex conduct and sexual orientation, sex-work and HIV transmission 2010, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- Sex workers remain subject to stigma and marginalization, and are at significant risk of experiencing violence in the course of their work, often as a result of criminalization. As with other criminalized practices, the sex-work sector invariably restructures itself so that those involved may evade punishment. In doing so, access to health services is impeded and occupational risk increases. Basic rights afforded to other workers are also denied to sex workers because of criminalization, as illegal work does not afford the protections that legal work requires, such as occupational health and safety standards.
- Organe
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Type de document
- Special Procedures' report
- Thèmes
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Personnes concernées
- All
- Année
- 2010
- Date ajouter
- 19 août 2019
Paragraphe
Right to health and criminalization of same-sex conduct and sexual orientation, sex-work and HIV transmission 2010, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- Globally, there have been periods where sex work has been highly regulated or decriminalized, generally to manage certain aspects of sex work or to achieve control of disease, particularly within the military. However, prohibitions against sex work are regarded as "notoriously difficult to enforce" and of questionable utility where enforcement is accompanied by extortion and brutality. In recent times, significant opposition has arisen to the imposition of criminal sanctions against sex workers, and certain nations have amended laws to decriminalize sex work.
- Organe
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Type de document
- Special Procedures' report
- Thèmes
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Personnes concernées
- All
- Année
- 2010
- Date ajouter
- 19 août 2019
Paragraphe
Right to health and criminalization of same-sex conduct and sexual orientation, sex-work and HIV transmission 2010, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- In one study, about 45 per cent of a sample of sex workers operating in illegal circumstances were assessed with negative mental health scores, as compared to 12 per cent of the sample of "legal" sex workers. Although differences in physical health outcomes were not observed, significant patterns of disadvantage and vulnerability were noted amongst the former group. This not only highlights the impact of criminalization, both in terms of the impact of sex work and entry into sex work, but also draws attention to the importance of differentiating between the various types and settings of sex work in devising effective health interventions.
- Organe
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Type de document
- Special Procedures' report
- Thèmes
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Personnes concernées
- All
- Année
- 2010
- Date ajouter
- 19 août 2019
Paragraphe
Right to health and criminalization of same-sex conduct and sexual orientation, sex-work and HIV transmission 2010, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- Stigmatization has been cited as the major factor preventing sex workers from accessing their rights. Laws criminalizing or onerously regulating sex work compound the stigmatization experienced by sex workers, adversely affecting health outcomes, often without justification on the grounds of public health. The Geschlechtskrankheitengesetz, a law in Germany designed to combat venereal disease, required prostitutes to undergo mandatory medical examinations. This law legally stigmatized sex workers as being almost solely responsible for the spread of venereal disease, despite the absence of epidemiological studies to support this. The law has since been amended to provide for voluntary, anonymous testing.
- Organe
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Type de document
- Special Procedures' report
- Thèmes
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Personnes concernées
- All
- Année
- 2010
- Date ajouter
- 19 août 2019
Paragraphe