Pathogens do not respect borders, and background conditions of inequality mean that certain people—particularly the poor and—predictably suffer the most when new health risks emerge. GHJP’s work in this area focuses on key structural factors associated with the transmission and effects of infectious disease, marshaling existing data, and doing new research to support public health and clinical interventions, social and political initiatives that will lessen risks and harms.

Current Projects

Local

The following letters, press releases and memos were released to the City of New Haven by the GHJP, the Sex Workers and Allies Network (SWAN) and other allied groups calling for immediate actions to protect the health and rights of marginalized persons, including people who are homeless, living in poverty, using substances and/or engaged in sex work, during the COVID-19 pandemic. With regards to local advocacy efforts, the GHJP strives to work in ethical and politically-conscious ways with community partners: for the past several years, this has included collaborative projects in support of SWAN, a New Haven-based harm reduction organization led by and for current and former street-based sex workers.

What You Should Know About the Legal Power of Quarantine and Isolation in Connecticut 

Working paper

Authored by Ali Miller; Zain Lakhani; Kayla Thomas; Anna Wherry. 

GHJP Co-Director Ali Miller and GHJP Clinic students Lakhani, Thomas, and Wherry co-authored a memo describing the scope and limitation of the power to mandate quarantine and isolation under Connecticut law, with a particular focus on the implication for the treatment and rights of New Haven's most vulnerable residents.

The Ad the CT Mirror Refused to Run

July 10, 2020 

 

Hearst Rejects Covid Prison Ad

July 24, 2020 in the New Haven Independent

Written by Thomas Breen (New Haven Independent), endorsed by the New Haven Harm Reduction Working Group

Local Connecticut paper refused to run out ad asking Governor Lamont to release incarcerated people from prisons and jails in CT at risk of COVID.

 

Activists Press “Harm Reduction” Response To Covid-19

May 8, 2020 in the New Haven Independent

Press release here

Endorsing organizations include: Stop Solitary-Connecticut; the Connecticut Harm Reduction Working Group; Sex Workers and Allies Network; Greater Hartford Harm Reduction Coalition; Katal Center for Health, Equity, and Justice; Alliance for Living; Yale Program for Recovery and Community Health; Yale Global Health Justice Partnership; One Standard of Justice

A coalition of local, statewide, and Yale-affiliated advocacy groups held a press conference calling on Governor Ned Lamont and mayors across Connecticut to implement comprehensive COVID-19 plans addressing the crisis in CT jails and prison as well as the needs of people experiencing homelessness, people who use drugs, people with disabilities, and street-involved persons, including sex workers.

 

Letter to Chief Otoniel Reyes, New Haven Police Department

April 8, 2020

Endorsing organizations include: Sex Worker and Allies Network (SWAN); CT Community Health Care Van; Yale Global Health Justice Partnership; Faultline Ensemble; Yale Program for Recovery and Community Health

The letter outlines demands for changes to policing and arrest practices to cease new incarceration as well as the routine criminalization of poverty, homelessness and survival-based behaviors.

 

Letter to Mayor Justin Elicker

March 27, 2020

Endorsing organizations include: Sex Workers and Allies Network; Yale Global Health Justice Partnership; Sex Workers Outreach Project – USA; National Health Care for the Homeless Council; New Haven Women’s Resettlement Working Group; Yale Community Health Care Van/Syringe Services Program; New Haven Legal Assistance Association

The letter details concerns and proposals for the City of New Haven on the development of accountable and publicly transparent plans and policies with regards to COVID-19 response to ensure cross-sectoral coordination and public consultation; the creation of responsive shelter, health service and housing options for people without housing; the opening of low-barrier drop-in centers; and changes to policing and carceral protocols.

 

Letter to Dr. Mehul Dalal, Community Services Administration

March 23, 2020

By the Sex Workers and Allies Network and Yale Global Health Justice Partnership

The letter identifies key considerations for the establishment of accessible bathrooms, low-barrier drop-in centers, and harm reduction-oriented temporary housing sites.

 

National

Expanding access to new cures for Hepatitis C

Responding to the justice and rights implications of the COVID-19 pandemic

 

Global

Reforming drug laws to quell TB transmission

Seeking U.N. Accountability for Cholera in Post-Earthquake Haiti

Challenging the US Response to the West African Ebola Outbreak

Ensuring a rights-based response to Zika

Reforming compensation system for Silicosis

 

COVID-19

COVID-19: The Social and Human Costs of Pandemic Response

Responding to the justice and rights implications of the COVID-19 pandemic

Past Project

Reforming Compensation System for Silicosis and TB for Miners in Southern Africa