Transmission and the law

Easy-to-read and illustrated information on HIV transmission and the law in England and Wales.

Some people have gone to prison because they have passed HIV on to another person. The law is only involved in very specific circumstances. 

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 using HIV prevention, and they definitely pass HIV on to the person they had sex with.

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