Abolition for Our People: We are each other's harvest: Addressing harm through transformative and restorative justice

Advocates working to decriminalize HIV often face pushback in the form of questions like: “What about those who commit sexual assault?” or “What about those who intentionally transmit HIV?” These questions reveal the deep entrenchment of carceral logic in how our society imagines safety and accountability.

As an abolitionist organization, CHLP is committed to finding non-carceral ways to address harm – approaches that do not increase stigma or further oppress people living with HIV. We aim to center the experiences and needs of survivors while also holding those who cause harm accountable in ways that promote healing and repair. The prison-industrial complex does not solve violence; it disappears people from community and takes away the possibility of repair.

For those of us working to repeal and reform HIV and STI criminal laws, it's essential to be ready to answer these challenging questions and to model what accountability without punishment can look like.

This fourth installment in our Abolition for Our People webinar series will focus on restorative and transformative justice practices by introducing these frameworks and collaborating on practical ways to use them in our HIV justice work. We’ll learn about real-world examples of these approaches in action and how they are powerful tools for addressing harm that we can all use in our work.

More info and registration link coming soon.