There are many ways to undertake advocacy but most effective advocacy requires strong community support. The research below was undertaken to get a better understanding of community views on HIV criminalisation: knowledge to form the basis of discussions to build a strong advocacy base.
Considers how people with HIV responded to the first criminal convictions for HIV transmission in England and Wales. The vast majority were critical of criminalisation, expressing concern that prosecutions conflict with ‘safer sex’ shared responsibility messaging, and exacerbate existing stigma and discrimination. Most felt a growing culture of blame undermined the successes achieved by HIV- human rights approaches.
Considers how heterosexual women living with HIV make sense of their HIV acquisition, challenging the victim–culprit binary. None of the women interviewed presented themselves as ‘victims’ in any straightforward sense or placed the blame squarely on the men who likely infected them, including men who had not disclosed. Instead, the women’s narratives revealed themes of “mutual vulnerability” and far more ambivalent allocations of responsibility. The tendency to position women who become infected with HIV as ‘victims’ obscures the complex realities of gender and sexual practice.
Reports on HIV-positive persons’ focus group discussions about Michigan's HIV disclosure law. Themes included perceived responsibility to prevent infection, concern about unwanted secondary disclosure of HIV-positive status, fear of being falsely accused of violating HIV disclosure law, and perceived vulnerability of HIV-positive persons within the US legal system. Although many agreed with the purpose of the HIV disclosure law, there was considerable concern about the negative impact of the law on persons living with HIV.
Examines how people living with HIV perceive the law and the legal obligation to disclose serostatus to prospective sexual partners. Notes perceptions of a changing public climate resulting from the increasing prominence of criminal discourses applied to HIV.
Describes the overall pattern and predictors of attitudes toward criminalizing unprotected sex without disclosure by people with HIV. Examines whether attitudes and sexual risk behaviours differ in states with or without HIV-specific laws. Found most respondents believed it should be illegal for persons living with HIV to have unprotected sex without disclosure, however, attitudes did not vary by state law, suggesting HIV-specific laws do not deter high-risk sexual behaviour.
Considers respondents’ awareness of HIV prosecutions and how they have adapted their sexual behaviour as a result. Demonstrates considerable confusion regarding the law, suggesting misunderstandings could lead people with HIV to wrongly believe that how they act, and what they do or don’t say, is legitimated by law. Although criminalisation prompted some to take steps to reduce risk of HIV transmission, others moderated their behaviour in ways likely to have adverse effects, or reported no change.
Features eight experts in HIV, sexual assault and law raising many questions about HIV-related legal developments in Canada. (28 min)
Notes that the current legal situation has led to discomfort and uncertainty around relationships, with 82% of PLHIV surveyed saying the current legal situation has limited their ability to form new relationships.
Photo essay drawing on photographs and narratives created as part of an ongoing community-based photo-voice project visually exploring the gendered dimensions of HIV stigma, disclosure, and criminalization among diverse groups of women and transgender people living with HIV in Vancouver, Canada
Series of 4 videos from criminalisation survivors sharing their story to help others avoid their unfair experiences with the criminal justice system and HIV stigma. The videos are meant as a reminder of why these harmful HIV laws that still exist in over 30 states need to be modernised.
A First-hand Account of a Canadian Criminal HIV Exposure Trial
Drawing on a feminist analytical framework and concepts of structural violence, this analysis sought to characterize the negotiation of sexual relationships and HIV disclosure among Women Living with HIV (WLWH) in a criminalized setting. Researchers conducted 64 qualitative interviews with cis and trans WLWH in Vancouver, Canada between 2015 and 2017. Despite frequently being represented as a law that ‘protects’ women, the study findings indicate that the criminalization of HIV non-disclosure constitutes a form of gendered structural violence that exacerbates risk for interpersonal violence among WLWH. In line with recommendations by, the WHO and UNAIDS these findings demonstrate the negative impacts of regulating HIV prevention through the use of criminal law for WLWH.
This is the first known qualitative research study in Canada examining the phenomena of criminal and public health charges for HIV non-disclosure from the perspectives of those who have lived it.
The project examined the experiences of people living with HIV who were charged, prosecuted, or threatened with criminal and public health charges in Canada because they had been alleged to not tell sex partners of their HIV-positive status. The project was conducted between January 2016 to January 2019.
The report presents the findings of the desktop research lead by the global south feminist alliance RESURJ, (Realizing Sexual and Reproductive Justice), as part of the alliance's leadership work on the shortcomings and limitations of penal policies in addressing sexual and reproductive rights violations. The aim of the review and this analytical report is to strengthen RESURJ’s evidence base on sexual and reproductive justice and to further engage with diverse feminists and groups to reimagine alternatives to criminalized approaches, alternatives that put human rights and justice at the center.
Drawing on cross-sectional data from 895 people living with HIV in Australia, this paper describes associations between standard measures of mental health and resilience with a newly devised scale measuring anxiety about HIV criminalisation. Findings suggest that laws criminalising HIV transmission have a broadly negative impact on wellbeing of people living with HIV, a situation that is exacerbated for gay and bisexual men, and other people living with HIV who may face intersecting forms of marginalisation based on race, gender or class.
The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (the Maputo Protocol) is the first international legally binding human rights instrument to recognize the intersection between women’s human rights and HIV. In Article 14 (1) (d) and (e), the Maputo Protocol lays down women’s right to self-protection and to be protected from HIV infection, as well as their right to be informed of their HIV status and the HIV status of their partners in accordance with international standards and practices in force. As such, the Maputo Protocol is therefore, in practice, an important tool towards the alleviation of the disproportionate effect of the HIV pandemic on the lives of women in Africa. Even though considered as a landmark, the provisions of the Maputo Protocol on HIV are not very explicit on the measures to be taken by States Parties to ensure the full implementation of women’s rights to sexual and reproductive health. In order to meet this objective, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Commission) adopted these General Comments on Article 14 (1) (d) and (e) at its 52nd Ordinary Session held from 9 to 22 October 2012 in Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire.
Toni-Michelle Williams, the executive director of the Solutions Not Punishment Collaborative (SNaP Co.), a Black trans- and queer-led organization working to build safety, leadership and political power, explores alternatives to the historically violent and biased U.S. policing system—including restorative and transformative justice models.
The National HIV Criminalization Study increases our understanding of the views and experiences of people living with HIV on laws that criminalize HIV transmission, exposure, and nondisclosure of HIV status. The data in this report summarize the experiences of PLHIV in the US. Data were collected by Sero Project and community partners from August to December 2021. A
Study measured the reported impact of HIV non-disclosure case law on violence from sexual partners among women living with human immunodeficiency virus in Canada. Findings bolster concerns that human immunodeficiency virus criminalisation is a structural driver of intimate partner violence, compromising sexual rights of women living with HIV. HIV non-disclosure case law intersects with other oppressions to regulate women’s sexual lives.
Positive Health, Dignity and Prevention highlights the importance of placing the person living with HIV at the centre of managing their health and wellbeing. The Positive Health, Dignity and Prevention Framework requires a concerted multisectoral effort to work towards removing punitive laws and passing more laws that support and enable policies in favour of expanding programmes proven to reduce new HIV infections while protecting the human rights of people living with HIV and those who are at higher risk of exposure to the virus.
This report represents a synthesis of cross-sector discussions during a roundtable about alternative justice responses to the criminalization of HIV non-disclosure in Canada, as well as findings from the research and previous community engagement.
The purpose of this study undertaken by RENIP+ was to organise a public consultation on the issue of disclosure of HIV status to sexual partners in order to lay the groundwork for the substantive and procedural requirements of an accompanying process to guide the development of national guidelines on this issue. Based on the main findings of the study, the report makes several recommendations.
Please note: This document was machine translated from French with DEEPL.com
In November 2022, the Global Network of Young People Living with HIV (Y+ Global) convened an online dialogue to explore how criminalising HIV non-disclosure, potential or perceived exposure, or unintentional transmission affects young people living with HIV, young sex workers, young people who use drugs, and young LGBTIQ+ persons. The participants were all from networks representing these groups of young people from Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America and globally. Youth-led HIV and key population networks can strengthen and contribute to the HIV decriminalisation movement by building on existing work, working together, and advocating at different levels.
The report of the HIV Legal Network's 8th HIV, Law and Human Rights Symposium held in 2019 summarizes the discussions of the Forum where survivors of HIV criminalization shared their experiences and where experts in the field presented updates on the current state of HIV criminalization in Canada, the latest scientific developments surrounding HIV transmission and the future of advocacy efforts in the country.
