YOU ARE HERE:
Editorial: Crime and punishment
| Last updated: 25.08.04 |
This might come as a shock, but since Mohammed Dica was found guilty of transmitting HIV last month, those of us who are HIV-positive now appear to have a legal duty to disclose our HIV status to our partners before engaging in high-risk sexual activities in England & Wales.
That is the conclusion drawn by the learned author of the main article in this month's ATU, and it means that many of us are going to have to rethink our 'don't ask, don't tell' policy when it comes to having sex, if we also want to avoid the risk of being prosecuted.
The last thing we need is the added stigma of being a potential criminal every time we have sex, which is, after all, our inalienable right. However, we also surely have a moral responsibility to protect others from our own infection, as well as a duty to protect ourselves as best as possible from other sexually transmitted infections.
Sometimes the law of the land can change attitudes and behaviour, and sometimes it can just feel oppressive. Perhaps if this ruling had not come through the 'back door' but if instead the legal issues surrounding HIV transmission had been part of a considered approach to the sexual well-being of all people, this might have been an easier pill to swallow.