Groups call for revising HIV disclosure statute

MASON CITY – Nick Rhoades served time in prison, including six weeks in solitary confinement, lost many of his privacy rights and must register as a sex offender for life. His crime: not disclosing to a partner with whom he was intimate that he was HIV-positive. “Does the punishment fit the harm done?”

Raising Your Voice Can Raise The Odds Of Success

By Alex GarnerEditor-at-Large Editor’s Note: I had the privilege of meeting Louis Gay while in DC at the International AID Conference. Louis faces criminal charges in Norway because he is HIV-positive and didn’t disclose prior to oral sex, even though no transmission occurred.

A gay African man in the UK writes about the development of his thoughts about the appropriateness of using the criminal law to punish people living with HIV

Over the past few years I have had the opportunity of people telling me about their HIV diagnosis. This is possibly based on the fact that as an HIV positive person, I have been very open about my infection. However this was not something that happened over night.

Editorial by Global Commission's Cardoso and UNDP's Helen Clark

Laws should make things better. Sadly, as we stand at the precipice of finally ending Aids, an epidemic of archaic and insensitive laws is stifling our efforts and making things far worse. The Global Commission on “HIV and the Law” came together to address this hidden crisis.

Challenges & Changes to Law: Enabling Legal Environments in the HIV Response " NGO Delegation to the UNAIDS PCB

From the Global Commission on HIV and the Law, “Risks, Rights and Health” (note: this infographic does not include criminalization of non-disclosure). Click to enlarge.

How to Fight HIV Criminalization in Courts of Law and Public Opinion | AIDS Ark

As the XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) in Washington, DC, presented hopes of achieving an AIDS-free generation, some advocates focused attention on a major obstacle to this goal: the criminalization of people living with or at high risk for HIV.

"Should HIV Be Jailed? HIV Criminal Exposure Statutes and Their Effects" by Arianne Stein

Publication Title Washington University Global Studies Law Review Recommended Citation Arianne Stein, Should HIV Be Jailed? HIV Criminal Exposure Statutes and Their Effects in the United States and South Africa, 3 Wash. U. Glob. Stud. L. Rev. 177 (2004), http://digitalcommons.law.wustl.edu/globalstudies/vol3/iss1/7

Criminalization of Potential Exposure | HIV and the Law | CDC HIV/AIDS

During the early years of the HIV epidemic, a number of states implemented HIV-specific criminal exposure laws. These laws impose criminal penalties on living with HIV who know their HIV status and – who potentially expose others to HIV.

Survey suggests HIV laws intimidating, counterproductive | The Colorado Independent

WASHINGTON, DC – Nearly half of HIV-positive respondents to a recently released survey on HIV criminalization say they believe they will not receive a fair hearing in the criminal justice system if they ever face charges for failing to disclose their status to sexual partners.

Imprisoned for transmitting HIV: One man's story | KETK

The nightmare Nick Rhoades has been living the past four years began after a one-time sexual encounter with another Iowa man, Adam Plendl. It was June 2008. The 34-year-old Rhoades, who is HIV positive, says he was on antiretroviral medications.