Challenging Global AIDS Funding Restrictions
DKT v. USAID is the Brennan Center’s first case challenging the government’s anti-prostitution pledge requirement, filed on August 11, 2005 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The Center is assisting in the representation of DKT International with Jenner & Block serving as lead counsel.
DKT was denied funding when it explained that for First Amendment and public health policy reasons, it would refuse to adopt a policy parroting the government’s “anti-prostitution” ideology. One of the largest providers of HIV/AIDS services worldwide, DKT operates programs in Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Sudan, and Vietnam. DKT has sued the United States Agency for International Development (“USAID”).