Documenting human rights abuses related to HIV/AIDS and raising awareness of them is essential to combating the epidemic. Human Rights Watch’s program on HIV/AIDS has documented a wide range of rights violations, including violations against children affected by AIDS, police violence against HIV/AIDS outreach workers, and gender-based violence worldwide. This work builds naturally on Human Rights Watch’s large body of research on discrimination and persecution of marginalized groups. Some of the populations at highest risk of HIV infection – and least able to receive help once infected – are women, children, sexual minorities (LGBT), orphans, sex workers, and injection drug users.

To learn more about how human rights abuses are fuelling the HIV/AIDS crisis around the world, please see the reports below, organized by their themes and the populations they discuss.

Download Report Summaries (PDF - 520K)


HIV testing and counseling Civil society/HIV/AIDS organizations and outreach workers Prisons Sexual Violence