The Street Lawyer - Harm Reduction International · •50‐80 % of IDU’s infected with hepatitis C • Estimated up till 5 % IDUIDU s’s infected with HIV … •Extreme political

The Street LawyeryCopenhagen, Denmark, Nanna W. Gotfredsen

‘Street Lawyering’ Integrating legal g g g

assistance 

in an outreach harmin an outreach harm reduction initiative 

Drug Facts, Denmark• 5,5 million citizens• Est. 25.000 drug users, 10‐15.000 IDUs• Psychosocial therapy ,‘treatment guarantee’ .…• + access to substitution therapy …

A 300 l• Approx. 300  yearly• NSPs/needle distribution ‐ but not all over the country …• National Drug Strategy based on “zero tolerance” (2003)• National Drug Strategy based on “zero‐tolerance” (2003)• 50‐80 % of IDU’s infected with hepatitis C• Estimated up till 5 % IDU’s infected with HIV• Estimated up till 5 % IDU s infected with HIV …• Extreme political resistance to fx user rooms and heroin 

treatment over the yearsy• Repressive law enforcement on street level, median heroin 

seizure = 0,2 gram = the next fix• About 50 % of the prison population are drug users• Some user lives under extremely hard conditions ...

J‐Key CardsJ Key Cards

J-Key CardsJ Key Cards

• Questions asked by people who use drugsQuestions asked by people who use drugs• Harm reduction answers and messages on the back• Developed in co-operation with people who use drugsDeveloped in co operation with people who use drugs• Cards finally approved by people who use drugs• Involvement of defence lawyers professors in lawInvolvement of defence lawyers, professors in law,

health inspectors, dentists, police superintendents, artists etc. in the process

• Norwegian version of the cards released in 2003• + an English versiong• The concept works! And not just for drug users …

J‐Key CardsJ Key Cards

Treatment provider during and after the process:Treatment provider during and after the process:“After many years in this sector I thought I really knew about drug users, their conditions, needs, interests etc. … gNow I feel like I knew nothing …”.

Local health inspector/city doctor duringLocal health inspector/city doctor during the developing process:“Now I understand why so many usersNow I understand why so many users are infected with Hep C”.

P li hi f f di hi i →Police chief after reading this question →(inspection of i.e. vagina or rectum):“W d ’ d h d ? Oh ”“We don’t do that … do we? Oh no …”.

The Street Lawyers and our out door office…

The open drug scene in CPHThe open drug scene in CPHSt. Mary’s church and squarey q

Out door “user room” + out door office

The Setting

Working in No‐Go zones ... “Apartheid” ...Working in No Go zones ...  Apartheid  ...

The Open Drug Scene in CPH N G “A th id”No‐Go zones = “Apartheid”

NSP in Copenhagen … HIV or Penalty?

Media campaigninged a a pa g gBerlingske Tidende, January 28, 2007

Safety for out door sex workersSafety for out door sex workers

Dear out door sex worker take care of yourself sendDear out door sex worker, take care of yourself, send the clients license plate as a text message to The Street Lawyer: 50 14 50 07Lawyer: 50 14 50 07 …

“The street lawyersThe street lawyers comes here, they hang out with us brings foodout with us, brings food, and coffee and hot chocolate with whippedchocolate with whipped cream and anything else 

you ask or could wish for They help us with allyou ask or could wish for. They help us with all the problems we have, our violated legal rights, they help us with the police When the streetthey help us with the police … When the street lawyers are here, we are not harassed by the police! The street lawyers are my family I hopepolice! The street lawyers are my family, I hope I will never loose them”.                

H 2Hasan, 52 yrs.

“Th l th“They are always there for you. They were by my side during myby my side during my pregnancy and evenwhen I gave birth to 

d ht J i d bmy daughter. Joined by a     street lawyer they just treat you a hell of a lottreat you a hell of a lot 

nicer. When I reported police brutality, they charged me with false accusations! I was acquitted in the High Court – NOT because of my public defence lawyer, but because of the preparations, advices and support from the street lawyers I have known them for yearsfrom the street lawyers. I have known them for years by now. I am not sure that I would have survived those years without them.”

Mai, 29 yrs.

What ‘Street Lawyering’ is about …y g

• Survival and dignity of marginalized people• Equality• Equality• Legal security• Insisting on their inclusion and using the law (or legal policy) for this purpose when possible or necessary 

• Changing the context, rather than the individual• Serving the cause of justice, identifying and fighting injustice, because ...j ,

“Injustice anywhere isj y

a threat to justice 

everywhere.”

Martin Luther King Jr.gLetter from Birmingham Jail    

April 16, 1963