The impact of stigma and discrimination on key populations and their families

(If you're looking for the report: Drug courts in the Americas, please click here. Apologies for the confusion)

Societal stigma and punitive legal frameworks often severely impede key populations’ rights to raise families free from interference and discrimination. The experiences of key population groups (gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, people who use drugs, sex workers, and transgender people) are diverse, and are informed by varying levels of criminalisation, stigma and discrimination, and individual factors such as socioeconomic status, gender, race, and health status. This paper explores these challenges, and provides recommendations for policymakers.

This Policy Brief is a joint effort by three global key population-led networks (INPUD, MPact, and NSWP) to bring attention to the lived experiences of key populations and their families, and highlight the ways that stigma and discrimination inform these experiences. The Policy Brief is available here.

A Community Guide is also available here. It provides an overview of the full Policy Brief, and provides key recommendations for policymakers and other stakeholders. As with the Policy Brief, this paper is a collaborative effort between the International Network of People who Use Drugs (INPUD), MPact Global Action for Gay Men’s Health and Rights (formerly MSMGF) and the Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP).