HIV and criminal law

HIV and criminal law features

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  Getting tough on criminalisation

  “Nothing short of barbaric.” This was the comment of a BBC presenter, confronted with the number and sheer arbitrary injustice of criminal convictions of people accused of transmitting...

  From:HIV treatment update

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  Where HIV is a crime, not just a virus

  A new resource, HIV and the criminal law, has just been published by NAM. Its author, former HTU editor Edwin J Bernard, also presented on the issue at the...

  From:HIV treatment update

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  Unsafe convictions?

  Why advocates have concerns over recent HIV and hepatitis B prosecutions, by Edwin J Bernard and Michael Carter ...

  From:HIV treatment update

HIV and criminal law in your own words

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  Anger - I was furious

  I wasn’t really surprised when I found out I had HIV, after all I went to have an HIV test because I had all the...

  From:In your own words

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  The sex police

  I met Amy through a friend – a friend who knew my HIV status. We got on really well and she asked if I wanted...

  From:In your own words

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  Bored and horny

  It’s Sunday afternoon and it’s raining. I’m bored and horny. However, I’ve got £20 left over from the night before and this will be enough...

  From:In your own words

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  Life on HIV treatment – a personal perspective

  I’ve been taking HIV treatment for ten years – that's longer than the average life expectancy of someone with HIV when I was diagnosed back in 1991. I’ve...

  From:In your own words

HIV and criminal law news from aidsmap

• Results of tests for recent HIV infection can be safely given to patients

  Results from the Recent Infection Testing Algorithm (RITA) can be discussed with newly-diagnosed patients, UK clinicians say. Although RITA was designed for use in monitoring at a population level and does not give consistently accurate results to individuals, sharing the ...

  23 March 2012 | Roger Pebody

• Canadian study finds criminalisation confusion "chills" open and honest discussion of HIV risk-taking

  The lack of clarity over when a person with HIV has a legal obligation to disclose their HIV-positive status to a sexual partner is resulting in "anxiety, confusion and contradictory HIV counselling advice," according to a new study on ...

  23 August 2011 | Edwin J. Bernard

• Large gaps in the HIV prevention evidence base

  An analysis of research that is relevant to HIV prevention in the United Kingdom has identified several important topics on which little research is done. Writing in the journal BMC Public Health, the authors point to the lack of ...

  09 June 2011 | Roger Pebody

• Partners study expands our knowledge of HIV transmission risk

  A prevention study in which the intervention being tested failed is turning out to be a fertile source of information about HIV transmission risk in heterosexuals. Three substudies from the Partners in Prevention (PinP) prevention trial presented at the ...

  03 March 2011 | Gus Cairns

• Claims that phylogenetic analysis can prove direction of transmission are unfounded, say experts

  A report from the United States published last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences claims to show for the first time that direction of HIV transmission from one individual to another for use as evidence in ...

  24 November 2010 | Edwin J. Bernard

• Higher HIV rates among black MSM in the US may be linked to attitudes about homosexuality

  Higher prevalence of negative attitudes about homosexuality among African-Americans than among whites may help to account for why the US AIDS epidemic has disproportionately struck African-American men who have sex with men (MSM). Two US researchers have proposed this association on ...

  21 September 2010 | Kelly Safreed-Harmon

• Majority of US gay men support HIV transmission laws

  Two-thirds of US gay men believe that it should be illegal for an HIV-positive man to have unprotected anal sex without disclosure, investigators report in the October edition of AIDS Care. “Believing that it should be illegal was associated with ...

  21 September 2010 | Michael Carter

• Three tactics to stem the tide of criminal prosecutions

  Scientists, lawyers and advocates have been able to reduce unwarranted prosecutions of HIV exposure and transmission in three European jurisdictions by employing three distinct approaches, Robert James told the Eighteenth International AIDS Conference in Vienna last week. The conference also ...

  29 July 2010 | Roger Pebody

• North America and Western Europe lead the world in criminalising HIV transmission and exposure

  Worldwide, at least 600 individuals have now been convicted of transmitting HIV or of exposing others to the virus, a satellite session at AIDS 2010 was told. Whilst by far the greatest number of convictions has occurred in North ...

  19 July 2010 | Roger Pebody

• Vienna declaration calls for science-based drug policies

  Three leading scientific and health policy organizations this week launched a global drive for signatories to the Vienna Declaration, a statement seeking to improve community health and safety by calling for the incorporation of scientific evidence ...

  30 June 2010 | Press Release

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HIV and criminal law news selected from other sources

• Man Gets 12 Years For Giving Blood With HIV to Girl in China

  A Chinese man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for murder after giving HIV to a 12-year-old girl using a syringe with blood, China Daily reports.

  18 May 2012 | Poz magazine news

• Criminal Injustice: HIV criminalization survivors speak up

  HIV criminalization laws do little to stem the epidemic or protect public health. Instead, they often backfire and discourage people from being tested. Here, three courageous advocates share their stories of HIV criminalization and their crusade for health, welfare and justice.

  14 May 2012 | Poz

• Matthew Weait on the Greek brothel arrests

  HIV criminalization has compounded, and added a new and frightening dimension to, the longstanding idea that female sex workers are a source of pollution threatening the cleanliness of men.

  03 May 2012 | The Times That Belong To Us

• Greece arrests 17 HIV-positive women in brothels

  Greek authorities announced the arrest Wednesday of 17 HIV-positive women who allegedly worked illegally as prostitutes, accusing them of intentionally causing serious bodily harm. The names and photographs of 12 of the women were published on the Greek Police's website, angering human rights advocates who said it was unclear whether the women were aware they had HIV.

  03 May 2012 | The Associated Press

• Scotland: New guidance on prosecutions clarifies law, recognises treatment's impact on infectiousness

  On May 1st, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) published their Guidance for Scotland on 'Intentional or Reckless Sexual Transmission, of Exposure to, Infection'.

  02 May 2012 | Criminal HIV Transmission

• NAT welcomes new guidance in Scotland on prosecutions for HIV transmission

  The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) today published their Guidance for Scotland on 'Intentional or Reckless Sexual Transmission, of Exposure to, Infection'. 

  01 May 2012 | NAT press release

• EAST AFRICA: Regional HIV Bill passed without criminalization clause

  NAIROBI, 27 April 2012 (PLUSNEWS) - East Africa's Legislative Assembly has passed a regional HIV/AIDS Bill that seeks to protect the rights of people living with HIV and harmonize regional legislation and policy on the prevention and treatment of HIV.

  27 April 2012 | IRIN Plus News

• Norway: Prosecuted gay man goes public, makes a real difference

  Yesterday, Bent Høie (Conservative), the leader of the Standing Committee on Health and Care Services, raised the issue of HIV in the Norwegian Parliament (Stortinget). He was concerned about the rise in new diagnoses in the country, and discussed increases in unprotected sex amongst gay men and other men who have sex with men, as well as lack of knowledge of HIV and HIV-related stigma within broader Norwegian society.

  27 April 2012 | Criminal HIV Transmission

• HIV Criminalization Law Proposed in Bahrain

  Lawmakers in Bahrain have proposed a penalty of 10 years in prison for people in the country who intentionally transmit HIV to another person, the Khaleej Times reports.

  25 April 2012 | Poz magazine news

• NY Appeals Court to Hear if Saliva With HIV Is "Dangerous"

  The New York State Court of Appeals will hear an aggravated assault case that may clarify if saliva with HIV can be considered a "dangerous instrument" under the law, The Observer-Dispatch reports.

  24 April 2012 | Poz magazine news

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