BarTalk October 2004
Volume 16, Number 5

The Pivot Legal Society and nurse Megan Oleson are the joint Canadian recipients of the 2004 Award for Action on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights presented by the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

Pivot, a non-profit society, focuses on legal and human-rights issues in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. "Pivot's brave and tireless work has helped to empower the most marginalized drug users in British Columbia," said Joanne Csete, Program Director for Human Rights Watch's HIV/AIDS. "It has also forced both city and provincial authorities to grapple more seriously than ever with police harassment and due-process violations against drug users and sex-trade workers."

Ms. Oleson and Pivot lawyer John Richardson were especially praised for their work by Ann Livingston, a spokeswoman for the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU).

This article was published in the October 2004 issue of BarTalk and is subject to the copyright by the British Columbia Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, 2004, all rights reserved.