A woman that had been arrested in 2012 for allegedly working illegally as a prostitute and accused of intentionally causing clients serious bodily harm, has died from a drug overdose. According to women’s rights blog, to Mov (link in Greek), she also left behind a suicide note.
Katerina, was among 12 HIV-positive women, whose names and photographs were published on the Greek police’s website in 2012. At the time, current Education Minister Andreas Loverdos served as health minister. The incident sparking outrage among human rights groups, who called it an ‘appalling violation of human rights’ and said it had never been made clear the women knew they were infected with HIV.
Positive Voice, a group that helps people with HIV, had denounced the incident as an unacceptable breach of ‘medical confidentiality … an unprecedented act of stigmatization’.
Loverdos said the action was taken because of a rise in customers asking for unprotected sex for an additional fee and called the problem an ‘exploded bomb’
Katerina, along with the other women, served a one year prison sentence and was released after a court acquitted them, finding no evidence they engaged in illegal prostitution.
According to to Mov, after leaving Korydallos prison she overcame a drug addiction to become an activist to defend the rights of HIV women but relapsed and was admitted to Okana, a state-run organisation battling drug addiction.
According to to Mov she took her own life last week by administering a lethal drug dose, after leaving a suicide note behind.
“Katerina was not well. A few days ago she decided that life was just too tiring for her. She couldn’t take it anymore. She left a goodbye note and took her final dose. Katerina escaped and her departure is so painful,” wrote Chrysa Botsi, a member of the Solidarity Initiative for Persecuted Women with HIV.
The state's atrocious act of exposing the 12 womens' identities has been chronicled in the documentary “Ruins” by filmmaker Zoe Mavroudi.