Litigation is not just a means to win court battles, but also to mobilize communities for social change and health rights. Mark Heywood and Adila Hassim are two of South Africa’s most recognized legal activists, using the law to campaign for the rights of people living with HIV and to advocate for access to health services and basic education.
Heywood and Hassim have been involved in many of South Africa’s most important recent court battles for socioeconomic rights. These include:
- victory in the Constitutional Court affirming the rights of prisoners to be protected from the risks of TB;
- litigation on the rights of children to have textbooks;
- victory in the High Court outlawing discrimination against soldiers with HIV in the South African National Defense Force.
In this live webcast, Heywood and Hassim will explore how they have used litigation for social mobilization, their decision to close the AIDS Law Project in 2010 and to establish SECTION27, and why they partner closely with South Africa’s foremost social movement for HIV, the Treatment Action Campaign.
Speakers
- Mark Heywood, Executive Director, SECTION27
- Adila Hassim, Head of Litigation, SECTION27
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