European human rights court condemns Greece for naming HIV-positive sex workers in 2012

By ELENA BECATOROS
Associated Press

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The European Court of Human Rights has condemned Greece for violating the privacy rights of a group of women arrested and publicly identified in 2012 as HIV-positive prostitutes who allegedly endangered public health. The case was brought to the Strasbourg, France-based court by 11 Greek women, 10 of whom had been arrested and charged with intentionally attempting to inflict serious bodily harm by allegedly having unprotected sex with customers. The 11th woman was mistakenly identified as a sex worker instead of her sister. Five of the case’s original petitioners have since died.. In the run-up to Greece’s 2012 elections, the country’s health minister championed a crackdown on unlicensed brothels following a spike in reported HIV cases.