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Transmission and the law

Roger Pebody
Published: 17 February 2012

Some people have gone to prison because they have pased HIV on to another person. They were found guilty of recklessly transmitting HIV.

In England and Wales, a person can be found guilty of recklessly transmitting HIV if they know they have HIV, they understand how HIV is transmitted, the person they have sex with does not know they have HIV, they have sex without a condom and they pass HIV on to the person they had sex with.

The law is only broken if all five of these things are true.

Click here to see our illustrated leaflet giving basic information on HIV transmission and the law.

Transmission and the law

Our information levels explained

  • Short and simple introductions to key HIV topics, sometimes illustrated with pictures.
  • Expands on the previous level, but also written in easy-to-understand plain language.
  • More detailed information, likely to include medical and scientific language.
  • Detailed, comprehensive information, using medical and specialised language.
This content was checked for accuracy at the time it was written. It may have been superseded by more recent developments. NAM recommends checking whether this is the most current information when making decisions that may affect your health.