Forty-five U.S. states have made failure to do so a criminal offense. Two-thirds of HIV-positive adults are not aware of that. “HIV criminalization is the biggest driver of stigma in our society,” said Sean Strub, the HIV-positive founder of the SERO Project, a non-profit human rights organization combatting HIV-related stigma by conducting original research, briefings, forums and meetings around the country aimed at ending inappropriate criminal prosecutions of people with HIV.
HIV/AIDS Rally: Iowans Speak Out Against 709-C
Since the 1990’s, Iowa Code 709-C has made failing to disclose your HIV status a class “B” felony, punishable by up to 25 years in prison. It’s a law that HIV and AIDS advocates hope legislators change in 2013. Laura Friest has lived with HIV for more than 13 years.
Nashua woman wants Iowa's HIV law repealed, says it's discriminatory
A Nashua woman wants Iowa’s HIV law repealed because she says it’s discriminatory. Tami Haught is part of the group “CHAIN” (Community HIV/Hepatitis Advocates of Iowa Network). The group’s goal is to repeal 709c, a state law relating to the criminal transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).
AIDS ACTION NOW! asks gay men and other MSM not to press charges for alleged HIV non-disclosure
Last night AIDS ACTION NOW! launched phase 2 of our Think Twice Campaign against the criminalization of people living with HIV. We were at the Art Gallery of Ontario for the launch of poster/VIRUS 2012, to celebrate and commemorate a Day Without Art. Our target audience for phase 2: Men who fuck men.
Gay press coverage of Phase Two of 'Think Twice' campaign from AIDS ACTION NOW!
Call it an inspiring history lesson. The night started with a screening of a historical documentary but ended with a panel discussion calling for action on the contentious issue of HIV criminalization.
Report from Positive Women's Network forum on HIV criminalisation in Philadelphia
Laws in many states criminalize those with HIV/AIDS who fail to disclose their status to their partners. This was the message of a prograFm by the U.S. Positive Women’s Network held recently at the William Way Community Center in Center City.
China: Lawyer proposes making 'intentional HIV transmission' a crime
In the Chinese legal system, it is a crime to intentionally spread sexual transmitted diseases through prostitution, but this does not apply in a marriage or an ordinary relationship. Yang Shaogang, a Shanghai lawyer and advisor to the local government, is among those legal experts who propose legislation to make the intentional transmission of HIV/AIDS a crime, as it already is in many countries. Yang has taken on two cases where wives sued their ex-husbands, who were HIV positive, for infecting them. The court ruled in favor of the wives in both cases. Yang believes concealing one’s illness and infecting others should be a criminal offense. Some provinces such as Yunnan and Gansu have also passed measures to mandate that carriers inform their partners within a month of getting the test results or else the health authorities would. Such policies have been heavily criticized for violating patients’ right to privacy.
EATG and IPPF Europe issue joint statement asking European institutions to tackle HIV criminalisation
People living with HIV throughout Europe face stigma and discrimination enshrined in laws and judicial decisions. They are made criminals for acts that would not be ‘crimes’ if they did not have, or did not know they had, the virus. Such prosecutions not only do not help prevent new HIV infections, they can actually do more harm than good by transforming newly diagnosed individuals into potential criminals adding further to HIV-related stigma and discrimination.
Alert over new HIV criminalisation laws in Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador and Nicaragua
Alliance Linking Organisations in Latin America and the Caribbean, along with their strategic partners REDLACTRANS and RedTraSex, have used the occasion of World AIDS Day 2012 to sound a warning about the impact of criminal law being applied to those who transmit or expose others to HIV infection. In the last year alone, the governments of the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Ecuador issued new laws or reformed existing ones that criminalise HIV transmission.
The International HIV/AIDS Alliance warns on Uganda's anti-gay law
Source: member The International HIV/AIDS Alliance warned today that Uganda’s “Anti-Homosexuality Bill” would have a disastrous impact on the country’s HIV response if it becomes law. The Ugandan Parliament is poised to pass a bill which would see any person alleged to be homosexual at risk of life imprisonment.