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

• UK healthcare workers need better information and guidance on HIV criminalisation

  Support services for people living with HIV would benefit from better information and support around prosecutions for the sexual transmission of HIV, according to a report released yesterday by researchers from Sigma Research and Birkbeck College. The study explored ...

  07 March 2013 | Roger Pebody

• Young gay men with HIV in the UK worry about disclosure, transmission and prosecution – older ones about confidence and sex

  A large majority of gay men in the UK with HIV describe having one or more problems with sex, an analysis of a survey originally published in 2009 reveals. Amongst other problems, the analysis of the 2009 What do you ...

  07 November 2012 | Gus Cairns

• Viral load will be no defence against prosecution for HIV exposure or transmission in Norway

  HIV campaigners reacted with dismay today to the issuing of a report by a Norwegian Commission on HIV and the Law which, while making one significant concession in the shape of allowing condom use as a defence, in some other ...

  20 October 2012 | Gus Cairns

• Supreme Court of Canada rules that condoms alone do not prevent a 'realistic possibility' of HIV transmission

  The Supreme Court of Canada stated on Friday that individuals who know they are HIV positive are liable to criminal prosecution for aggravated sexual assault if they do not disclose this fact prior to sex that may risk a ...

  08 October 2012 | Edwin Bernard

• In the real world HIV has changed; in the courtroom it is still the 1980s

  In the midwestern American state of Michigan, prosecutors and judges still consider HIV infection to be a death sentence and are dismissive of scientifically grounded arguments about transmission risk and life expectancy, an analysis of court transcripts has shown. Moreover, ...

  26 July 2012 | Roger Pebody

• 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

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HIV and criminal law news selected from other sources

• Is this the end of HIV-criminalization in the military?

  A bipartisan amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act would require the Department of Defense to conduct an internal review of policies and prosecutions related to military members living with HIV.

  17 June 2013 | Salon

• Advances Worldwide in Advocacy Against HIV Criminalization

  A new report shows that significant advances have been made worldwide against inappropriate criminal laws and prosecutions for HIV nondisclosure, according to a statement by the Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+) and the HIV Justice Network, which coauthored the report.

  10 June 2013 | Poz magazine news

• US: Immigration Court rules in favor of HIV-positive man facing deportation

  The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) has vacated an immigration judge's ruling ordering the deportation of an HIV-positive immigrant convicted of solicitation for oral sex. The order follows a motion by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) seeking to retract its earlier argument that the man's HIV status made his solicitation conviction a "particularly serious crime."

  10 June 2013 | San Diego Gay & Lesbian News

• AIDS laws in Asia and the Pacific are failing to protect those most vulnerable

  Legal protections are unevenly enforced and human rights violations persist for people living with HIV in Asia and the Pacific. According to a new report released today by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), weak anti-discrimination laws affect the daily lives of those living with HIV by creating barriers to access to health care, prevention and treatment, and employment and education opportunities. Most people who experience rights abuses do not attempt to seek redress through legal means, according to the report.

  30 May 2013 | United Nations Development Programme

• UNAIDS publishes updated, detailed guidance on HIV criminalisation

  Today, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) publishes its long-awaited updated guidance to limit the overly broad use of criminal laws to regulate and punish people living with HIV who are accused of HIV non-disclosure, exposure and/or transmission. The guidance aims to ensure that any application of criminal law in the context of HIV achieves justice and does not jeopardise public health objectives.

  28 May 2013 | HIV Justice Network

• Lawyer: NY man at center of HIV scare not positive

  Nushawn Williams, a New York drug dealer imprisoned amid accusations he infected 13 young women with HIV in the 1990s, does not have the virus that causes AIDS, according to his attorney, who said he arranged for a new blood test as part of efforts to get him released from prison. But state officials have questioned the validity of the testing procedure used.

  24 May 2013 | Wall Street Journal

• Canada: New guide offers practical advice to HIV nurses and clarifies professional obligations regarding HIV and the criminal law

  A new guide which aims to address some of the realities and complexities faced by nurses and others who provide care to people living with HIV in Canada, is now available.

  23 May 2013 | HIV Justice Network

• US: REPEAL ACT to modernise HIV criminalisation laws reintroduced with bipartisan support

  Yesterday, California Congresswoman Barbara Lee (Democrat) was joined by Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Republican) to introduce a new version of the ‘Repeal Existing Policies that Encourage and Allow Legal HIV Discrimination Act’ (the ‘REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act’, or the ‘REPEAL Act’) first introduced by Congresswoman Lee in September 2011.

  09 May 2013 | HIV Justice Network

• South Africa: 'He said sex with a virgin could cure HIV'

  A Soweto man allegedly raped his two-year-old daughter, believing it would cure him of HIV. This chilling evidence is part of a police investigation into the rape of the child on February 3.

  26 April 2013 | Independent Online

• South Africa: No law on deliberate HIV infection

  A Soweto man has been unable to lay criminal charges against his former girlfriend for allegedly trying to infect him with HIV, it was reported.

  22 April 2013 | Times Live

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