US: Georgia Republican lawmaker co-sponsors bill that would revise HIV criminalisation law in the State

Republican lawmaker pushes to decriminalize HIV in Georgia

An influential Republican lawmaker in the Georgia House wants to modernize the state’s HIV laws, which activists have criticized as outdated and said stigmatize people living with HIV.

Current Georgia law makes it a crime for people living with HIV to have sex or donate blood without disclosing their status. It’s a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. State law also criminalizes spitting at or using bodily fluids on a law enforcement officer by a person living with HIV, an offense that can carry up to 20 years in prison.

But Rep. Sharon Cooper (photo), a Republican from Marietta, wants to change that. The chair of the Health & Human Services Committee in the Georgia House is a co-sponsor of a bill that would revise state law so it’s only illegal to intentionally transmit HIV during sex. The legislation would also downgrade the punishment from a felony to a misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to a year in prison. The revisions to the law would also decriminalize spitting at and using bodily fluids on a law enforcement officer by a person living with HIV.

“[Current Georgia HIV laws] make people so biased and afraid,” she told Project Q Atlanta. “And when you’re afraid of something and don’t understand it, it makes people act in very negative ways.”

“Misinformation is not only harmful to the person who has HIV, it’s harmful to the perceptions of everyone around and how they handle or treat the person. Having that correct information is extremely important,” she added.

Rep. Deborah Silcox, a Republican from Sandy Springs, introduced House Bill 719 on the final day of the 2019 legislative session. It was assigned to Cooper’s HHS committee.

Cooper said she will meet with Kathleen Toomey, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Health, to discuss the bill on Feb. 19. Cathalene Teahan, a registered nurse and a board member for the Georgia AIDS Coalition, is also expected at the meeting.

“Is there a more comprehensive bill? Should we have more than one bill? Where are our holes in the system? This is a big issue and I think we have a chance to really look at it,” Cooper said.

Georgia is one of some three-dozen states that criminalize a lack of HIV disclosure, whether or not the specific act actually exposed the sex partner to HIV. Activists and lawmakers have tried for years to modernize state law by decriminalizing non-disclosure of the disease to sex partners.

It’s way past time to update Georgia’s HIV laws, according to Jeff Graham, executive director of Georgia Equality.

“As they are currently written, there is no basis in science,” he said. ”If Georgia is going to get serious about making changes to end the epidemic in the next decade, we have to start by ending policies like this that are so harmful and have gone unchallenged for far too long.”

Rep. Mark Newton, a Republican from Augusta, is a co-sponsor of the legislation with Silcox and Cooper as a sponsor of the bill. The Democratic sponsors include Reps. Michele Henson of Stone Mountain, Karla Drenner of Avondale Estates and Sam Park of Lawrenceville. Drenner and Park are two of the five openly LGBTQ members of the legislature.

Cooper sponsored a measure that created a study committee to examine the state’s HIV criminalization laws in 2017.

The committee published its findings in December 2017, and some of those recommendations became part of HB 719. The committee found that “criminal exposure laws had no effect on detectable HIV prevention” and that these laws should be eliminated unless there was a clear intent to transmit the virus, according to the report.

HIV exposure arrests in Georgia

An Augusta man was arrested in January after allegedly having sex with a relative without informing him he had HIV. He was later released on bond.

A Rome, Ga., man was charged in August with exposing police officers to HIV after allegedly spitting on them, which HIV activists said highlights why the state needs to fix its laws. He is being held without bond in the Floyd County Jail.

An Athens man was arrested in July after allegedly having sex with a woman without informing her he had HIV. He was charged with reckless conduct by a person with HIV. He remains in Athens-Clarke County Jail without bond six months later, according to the Clarke County Sheriff’s Office.

A gay Atlanta man was arrested for HIV exposure in South Carolina in 2015. He claimed he disclosed his status before having sex with the alleged victim. The charges were later dropped.

US: Slow progress for Nevada Advisory Task Force on HIV Exposure Modernization

Task force on HIV decriminalization off to slow start

By Michael Lyle

Six months after Gov. Steve Sisolak authorized the creation of an Advisory Task Force on HIV Exposure Modernization to examine Nevada’s antiquated laws, the committee hasn’t been filled.

The law establishing the task force authorizes up to 15 appointments. The only three appointments made thus far were made in January. The task force has until Sept. 1 to present its finding to the Legislative Counsel Bureau along with any recommendations on potential legislation.

“As is the case with any other board or commission, the Governor can only make appointments when the application process is complete,” said Ryan McInerney, a spokesman for the governor. “There are multiple steps in the application process, and applicants will only be reviewed when all of their paperwork is completed and submitted.”

The governor’s office said it is working with the Department of Health and Human Services to encourage applicants to apply and has a goal of seven total members by mid-February.

“We are not concerned about meeting the deadline and will be prepared to immediately start work with the task force when appointments are announced,” added Shannon Litz, a spokeswoman with Nevada’s Department of Health and Human Services.

HIV criminalization laws developed in the late 1980s following the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Despite three decades of advancements in medicine that have decreased mortality rates and lowered transmission rates, the laws overwhelmingly remain in place across the United States.

Various movements have worked to change those existing laws.

California passed legislation in 2017 that reduces the penalty for those who expose others to HIV without their knowledge.

In a previous interview, state. Sen. David Parks, who sponsored Senate Bill 284, said he had tried for three sessions to bring forth legislation to address HIV criminalization.

The task force, once formed, is expected to review existing HIV exposure laws, research the impact of those laws, review corresponding court decisions and identify disparities of arrest based on indicators such as gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, race or sex.

In its 2017 report HIV Criminalization in the United States, the Center for HIV Law and Policy identified several existing Nevada laws that criminalizes HIV:

People living with HIV are prohibited from engaging in conduct known to transmit HIV, which is a Class B felony that can come with a two to 10 year prison sentence or up to a $10,000 fine.
People living with HIV can’t engage in sex work, which also comes with six months in prion and up to a $1,000 fine.
Health authorities have “broad powers to prevent transmission of communicable and infectious diseases, including HIV”

As the report points out, “conduct ‘likely to transmit’ HIV is not defined.”

Like most laws, Nevada’s statutes also don’t reflect the science advancements behind transmission.

For example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention along with other health organizations and scientific studies found that those on medications who achieve an undetectable viral load — when the copies of HIV per milliliter of blood are so low, it can’t be detected on a test — have no risk of transmitting the virus.

While speaking in support of SB 284, the Nevada Attorneys for Criminal Justice also noted other Nevada laws targeting people living with HIV.

“NACJ would particularly like to highlight one such law, NRS 212.189, which imposes a life sentence on a person with HIV in lawful custody who exposes another person to their bodily fluids,” the group wrote. “This is dramatically overbroad – a person with HIV who spits on a police officer as they are being arrested faces a life sentence, because HIV is sometimes present in saliva even though there is no actual risk of transmission.”

There hasn’t been any indication when the task force will begin meeting.

The three appointments in January include Stephan Page, Steve Amend and Ruben Murillo.

Russia: New bill proposed on the deportation of migrants with “dangerous” diseases, including HIV

The State Duma may pass a law on the expulsion of migrants with dangerous diseases

The Ministry of Internal Affairs has prepared a bill on the expulsion of migrants with dangerous diseases. Including with coronavirus. The decision on deportation will also be made by the Ministry of Health, the FSB and the bodies of sanitary and epidemiological surveillance. They must coordinate their actions with the Ministry of Justice. At the same time, it is necessary to provide sick people with treatment, accompaniment and transportation.
In addition to coronavirus, the list also includes plague, cholera, tuberculosis, HIV and anthrax. The document, according to the channel “Russia 24”, will be presented to the Cabinet in March, the State Duma will consider it in May.

Госдума может принять закон о выдворении мигрантов с опасными болезнями

МВД подготовило законопроект о порядке выдворения мигрантов с опасными заболеваниями. В том числе, с коронавирусом. Решение о депортации будут также принимать Минздрав, ФСБ и органы санитарно-эпидемиологического надзора. Свои действия они должны согласовывать с Минюстом. Заболевшим, при этом, необходимо предоставить лечение, сопровождение и перевозку.

Кроме коронавируса, в списке также чума, холера, туберкулез, ВИЧ и сибирская язва. Документ, по данным телеканала “Россия 24”, представят кабмину в марте, Госдума рассмотрит его в мае.

Tajikistan: HIV testing becomes mandatory for boys before their circumcision

Pre-Circumcision HIV Test for Boys Required in Tajikistan

Google translation, for article in Russian please scroll down

Avesta.Tj | 01/08/2020 | Pre-circumcision HIV testing for boys in Tajikistan has become mandatory. The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare of the country ordered the country’s health facilities to test boys for HIV before circumcision.

As Avesta was informed by a senior specialist of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Tajikistan on children’s diseases Sherali Rakhmatulloev, this measure is timely and is aimed at preventing the spread of HIV infection.

According to Sherali Rakhmutullov, until 2018, 70-80% of male circumcisions in Tajikistan were performed by traditional healers, until a ban on their activities was introduced.

After the ban on the activities of craftsmen circumcising boys at home, rooms were created in medical institutions of the country where circumcision is performed by professional doctors.

“Craftsmen used the same tool for circumcision, which sometimes led to the transmission of infection from one child to another. Now, specialists who use disposable and sterilized instruments are doing this, which minimizes the risks of infection, ”S. Rakhmatulloev noted.

The Ministry of Health believes that mandatory testing of boys for HIV before circumcision is aimed at preventing and preventing the spread of this infection.

“If a child has HIV infection, then it is likely that the child’s parents are the carrier of the infection, or one of them. This allows you to minimize the risk of spreading the infection, ”the Ministry of Health said.

According to the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare of the country, in 2019, over 81.2 thousand male circumcisions were carried out in the country’s medical institutions.

As the press center of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Republic of Tatarstan recalls, at the end of October 2018, an order was issued by the Minister of Health on the regulation of circumcision operations in the country.

This measure was adopted in accordance with the amendments introduced in August 2017 to the law “On the streamlining of folk traditions, triumph and ceremonies”.

As part of the implementation of this law and the head of the Ministry of Health, 693 special facilities for circumcision surgery were created in medical institutions across the country.

In total, in 2019, 81 thousand 231 male circumcision surgeries were carried out in the country’s medical institutions.

Тест на ВИЧ для мальчиков перед обрезанием в Таджикистане стал обязательным

8 января 2020, 10:18

Avesta.Tj | 08.01.2020 | Проверка на ВИЧ перед обрезанием для мальчиков в Таджикистане стала обязательным. Министерство здравоохранение и социальной защиты населения страны обязало медучреждения страны тестировать мальчиков на ВИЧ перед обрезанием.

Как сообщил «Авеста» старший специалист Минздрава РТ по детским заболеваниям Шерали Рахматуллоев, данная мера является своевременной и направлена на профилактику распространения ВИЧ-инфекции.

По словам Шерали Рахмутулловева, до 2018 года 70-80% обрезаний мальчиков в Таджикистане проводили народные целители, пока не был введен запрет на их деятельность.

После введения запрета на деятельность народных умельцев, обрезывающих мальчиков на дому, в медицинских учреждениях страны были созданы кабинеты, где обрезание проводят профессиональные врачи.

«Народные умельцы использовали при обрезании один и тот же инструмент, что иногда приводило к передаче инфекции от одного ребенка другому. Теперь этим занимаются специалисты, которые используют одноразовые и стерилизованные инструменты, что сводит к минимуму риски заражения», – отметил Ш.Рахматуллоев.

В министерстве здравоохранения считают, что обязательное тестирование мальчиков на ВИЧ перед обрезанием направлено на предотвращение и профилактику распространения данной инфекции.

«Если у ребенка выявлена ВИЧ-инфекция, значит, есть вероятность, что носителем инфекции являются родители ребенка, или один из них. Это позволяет минимизировать риск распространения инфекции», – считают в Минздраве.

По данным министерства здравоохранения и социальной защиты населения страны, в 2019 году в медицинских учреждениях страны проведено свыше 81,2 тыс. обрезаний мальчиков.

Как напоминает пресс-центр министерства здравоохранения и социальной защиты населения РТ, в конце октябре 2018 года был издан приказ министра здравоохранения о регулировании операций по обрезанию в стране.

Данная мера была принята согласно поправкам, внесенным в августе 2017 года в закон «Об упорядочении народных традиций, торжестве и обрядов».

В рамках реализации указанного закона и главы Минздрава в медицинских учреждениях по всей стране были созданы 693 специальных помещений для проведения операции по обрезанию.

Всего, в 2019 году в медицинских учреждениях страны проведено 81 тыс. 231 операция по обрезанию мальчиков.

US: Bipartisan group of Missouri lawmakers files legislation aimed at modernising HIV laws

Backers of modernizing Missouri’s HIV law say it’s matter of life and death

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Missourinet)– Legislation aimed at modernizing the state’s current HIV laws has been filed by a bipartisan group of Missouri lawmakers, who say the current laws are based on information that is no longer scientifically accurate.

State Rep. Holly Rehder, R-Scott City, hopes legislative leaders help push House Bill 1691 through quickly.

“Let’s work on these things (HIV and her prescription drug monitoring program legislation) and get them done to actually truly affect people’s daily lives at home,” Rehder says.

Supporters of the Rehder legislation want to see the laws change, so there is no longer an incentive to not get tested for HIV. They say current law treats HIV as a crime.

State Rep. Tracy McCreery, D-Olivette, joined Rehder at a December press conference at the Statehouse in Jefferson City. McCreery has filed her own version of the bill, which is similar to the Rehder bill. Representative McCreery tells Missourinet that modernizing the laws is critical.

“It’s a matter of life and death and it’s one of those issues that affects both rural and urban, suburban Missouri,” says McCreery. “And that’s why we’re working together.”

The Rehder and McCreery bills would both eliminate HIV-specific language in state law.

A coalition of groups ranging from Empower Missouri to the Missouri HIV Justice Coalition to the AIDS Project of the Ozarks is supporting the legislation. Spectrum Healthcare Executive Director Cale Mitchell tells Capitol reporters the state’s current laws are medically inaccurate.

“Diagnosis of a chronic illness should not be punitive and that’s what we have seen historically with the HIV laws that are in place,” Mitchell says.

Missouri’s current law has felony-level penalties if an HIV-positive person cannot prove that they disclosed their HIV status before engaging in sexual activity.

As for Rehder, she notes President Donald Trump (R) has aimed to cut HIV cases by 90 percent within ten years.

Empower Missouri says of the top 220 counties in the United States that are at risk of rapid dissemination of HIV infection among those who inject drugs, 13 counties are in Missouri.

All 13 of those Missouri counties are south of Interstate 70. They are Bates, Cedar, Crawford, Hickory, Iron, Madison, Ozark, Reynolds, Ripley, St. Francois, Washington, Wayne and Wright.

Missouri’s 2020 session begins Wednesday at noon in Jefferson City.

Dominican Republic: National Council for HIV asks for a review of HIV laws & drug laws, including HIV criminalisation provisions

Conavihsida asks to modify the HIV-AIDS law in the country

Source: Diario Libre, December 12, 2019 – Google translation, scroll down for article in Spanish

Conavihsida asks to modify the HIV-AIDS law in the country

In the country there are 12,000 people who have VHI and do not know it

The director of the National Council for HIV (Conavihsida), Víctor Terrero, asked the authorities to review and adapt laws and policies that affect drug users in HIV prevention and care programs.

It proposed the modification of Laws as 135-11 in its articles 50.78 and 79, as well as the Drug Law 50-88. He argued that sometimes a mother is sentenced to eight and ten years in prison for occupying a small portion of prohibited drugs and forgets that this woman has three and four small children to care for and maintain and that this type of case should be considered In the law.

“We are raising our voice in favor of injecting drug users living with HIV status and who are 22% more likely to get the virus,” he said.

He said that according to UNAIDS data these users often share needles, syringes and other supplies for injection, with which they contract the disease. He said that type of restrictive policy has failed elsewhere. He called to change the restrictive policy that is currently applied by a water utility so that drug use is not criminalized and is seen as a public health problem.

Third, the policies should focus on working with the person to avoid consumption, but also the spread of HIV through the use of syringes and other instruments. He recalled that there are about 12,000 people in the country who have HIV and do not know it.

By participating in the conference on “Drug, HIV and Human Rights Policies,” Terrero said that the most vulnerable population to contract HIV are the LGBTI population, Haitian migrants, low-school children in the bateyes who are the ones They provide the most new cases.

The director of Conavihsida reported that more than 79,750 people live with HIV in the country, of which they work with almost 69,000 for a missing 10,000. Retrovirals are supplied to all those identified, for which the State invested 17 million dollars this year.

On his side, Mauricio Ramírez Villegas, coordinator of the United Nations System in the Dominican Republic also advocated comprehensive policies on the issue of drugs and HIV.

He said that public policies must be more humanized to respond effectively to the fight against drugs and said there is scientific evidence from the United Nations, specialized agencies that demonstrate that a more humanized public policy is more effective than restrictive and criminal They deepen drug problems.

The items in dispute

Article 50.- Mandatory evidence . The tests for the detection of HIV or its antibodies are mandatory when:

1) It is required for the purpose of evidence in a criminal proceeding, upon order of the competent judicial authority; However, the accused refuses to carry out the test for detection

of HIV or its antibodies.

2) It involves donating blood, blood products, breast milk, semen, organs and tissues.

3) It is a pregnant woman, as part of the examinations prescribed by the attending physician, in order to ensure the best interest of the unborn child.

Article 78.- Obligation to inform the sexual partner. Any person who, knowing his HIV seropositivity, does not communicate his serological condition to the person with whom he is going to

Having sex will be punishable by imprisonment for two (2) to five (5) years.

Article 79.- Transmission of HIV intentionally. Any person who, by any means, transmits HIV intentionally to another, will be punished with imprisonment for twenty (20) years.

Conavihsida pide modificar ley de VIH-SIDA en el país

En el país hay 12,000 personas que tienen VHI y no lo saben

El director del Consejo Nacional para el VIH(Conavihsida), Víctor Terrero, solicitó a las autoridades revisar y adaptar legislaciones y políticas que afectan a los usuarios de drogas en los programas de prevención y atención del VIH.

Planteó la modificación de Leyes como 135-11 en sus artículos 50,78 y 79, así como la Ley de Drogas 50-88. Sostuvo que en ocasiones se condena a una madre a ocho y diez años de prisión por ocuparle una pequeña porción de droga prohibida y se olvida de que esa mujer tiene tres y cuatro hijos pequeños que cuidar y mantener y que ese tipo de caso se debe contemplar en la ley.

“Estamos levantando nuestra voz en favor de los usuarios de drogas inyectables que viven con la condición de VIH y quienes tienen un 22% más de posibilidades de contraer el virus”, sostuvo.

Manifestó que de acuerdo con datos ONUSIDA esos usuarios muchas veces comparten agujas, jeringas y otros suministros para inyección, con los cuales contraen la enfermedad. Aseguró que ese tipo de política restrictiva ha fracasado en otros lugares. Llamó a cambiar la política restrictiva que se aplica actualmente por una sanitaria para que no se siga criminalizando el uso de drogas y se vea como un problema de salud pública.

Terrero que las políticas deben enfocarse en trabajar con la persona para evitar el consumo, pero además, el contagio de VIH a través de uso de jeringas y otros instrumentos. Recordó que en el país hay unas 12,000 personas que tienen VIH y no lo saben.

Al participar en la conferencia sobre “Políticas de Drogas, el VIH y los Derechos Humanos”, Terrero señaló que la población más vulnerable para contraer VIH son la población LGBTI, los migrantes haitianos, los niños de baja escolaridad en los bateyes que son los que aportan la mayor cantidad de los nuevos casos.

El director de Conavihsida informó que más de 79,750 personas viven con VIH en el país, de los cuales trabajan con casi 69,000 para un faltante de 10,000. A todos los identificados se les suministran los retrovirales, para lo cual el Estado invirtió este año 17 millones de dólares.

De su lado, Mauricio Ramírez Villegas, coordinador del Sistema de Naciones Unidas en República Dominicana también abogó por política integrales en el tema de las drogas y el VIH.

Dijo que las políticas públicas deben ser más humanizadas para responder con efectividad a la lucha contra las drogas y aseguró que hay evidencias científicas por parte de Naciones Unidas, organismos especializados que demuestran que una política pública más humanizada es más efectiva que las restrictiva y criminales que profundizan los problemas de las drogas.

Los artículos en disputa

Artículo 50.- Pruebas obligatorias. La realización de las pruebas para la detección del VIH o de sus anticuerpos, son obligatorias cuando:

1) Se requiera para fines de prueba en un proceso penal, previa orden de la autoridad judicial competente; no obstante el imputado se rehúse a la realización de la prueba para la detección del VIH o de sus anticuerpos.

2) Se trate de donación de sangre, hemoderivados, leche materna, semen, órganos y tejidos.

3) Se trate de una mujer embarazada, como parte de los exámenes prescritos por el médico tratante, con la finalidad de asegurar el interés superior de la criatura por nacer.

Artículo 78.- Obligación de informar a la pareja sexual. Toda persona que, conociendo su seropositividad al VIH, no comunique su condición serológica a la persona con la que vaya asostener relaciones sexuales, será castigada con la pena de reclusión de dos (2) a cinco (5) años.

Artículo 79.- Transmisión del VIH de manera intencional. Toda persona que, por cualquier medio, transmita el VIH de manera intencional a otra, será castigada con pena de reclusión de veinte (20) años.

US: Bipartisan group of Missouri Lawmakers working to change HIV Laws that date from the 1980s

Missouri Lawmakers Want To Bring HIV Laws To The 21st Century

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is working to change current Missouri law on HIV that they say hasn’t been updated since the 1980s.

Rep. Holly Rehder, R-Sikeston, said current laws now actually discourage people from being tested. She said if someone knowingly exposes their partner to HIV and they contract the disease, it’s a class A felony. This is the most serious of felony crimes which include murder, rape and forcible kidnapping.

“If you don’t know your status, there’s no way in Missouri you can be charged with that class A felony,” Rehder said Wednesday in announcing the proposed legislative change. “Not knowing your status in Missouri, unfortunately, keeps people from having that concern, which, in turn, keeps people from getting tested.”

In comparison, driving intoxicated and causing someone’s death is a class C felony.

Rehder’s legislation would reduce knowingly exposing someone to HIV who then contracts it to a class C felony. Her bill also reduces the penalty of knowingly exposing someone to the disease who does not contract it from a class B felony to a class D felony.

Rep. Tracy McCreery, D-St. Louis, filed separate legislation that completely eliminates felony charges and reduces all transmission offenses to misdemeanors.

“That’s based on input that we received from experts around the country,” she said. “It puts it more in line with other kinds of disease transmission, as well.”

Jeanette Mott Oxford, executive director with Empower Missouri, said it gets it out of the area of disclosure altogether. Both of these laws focus on intent.

“Were you intending to transmit HIV? Because right now our law says condom use is no defense,” she said. “So you could be trying not to transmit HIV and still be charged with a crime in Missouri.”

There were roughly 13,000 people living with HIV in Missouri in 2018, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Missouri has also been categorized as one of seven states in the U.S. with a rural HIV epidemic. However, with adequate treatment, those who are HIV-positive can avoid getting AIDS. Medication can also suppress the virus and reduce the risk of transmitting it to another person.

“HIV is no longer a death sentence if you’re being treated,” said Rehder.

Rehder’s bill and McCreery’s bill have been pre-filed, but full language has not been made available yet. Sen. Shalonn “Kiki” Curls, D-Kansas City, plans to file similar legislation in the Senate next week.

On another health issue, Rehder will again attempt to pass a statewide prescription drug monitoring program.

Many states across the nation experienced a decrease in drug overdose deaths in 2018, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But Missouri saw a 12% increase.

Data from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services shows that one out of every 65 deaths in Missouri in 2017 was caused by opioid overdose. Also, Missouri is also the only state without a PDMP.

Rehder said she believes she has the support to get it done this year. Approaching her final year in the House, she said it’s incredibly important to get it done this legislative session.

“I was raised on welfare, single mom, multiple stepdads, multiple mom’s boyfriends in the home; one of my stepdads was a dealer,” she said. “I had quite a bit of a different lifestyle than many of my colleagues. You know, I had to quit school at 15 to help take care of my family and had my first baby at 16. I’ve seen some things that maybe some others haven’t.”

Rehder said she feels a personal responsibility to explain how policies affect the people that grew up in “her part of the community.”

US: It’s time Ohio’s laws reflected our new understanding of the science of HIV

Ohio’s HIV laws should be based on science, not hysteria

By Jarvis DeBerry, cleveland.com

Even if you weren’t a fan of the National Basketball Association in 1991, you probably remember the day in November that Earvin “Magic” Johnson, the dazzling point-guard of the Los Angeles Lakers announced he was retiring from the game after testing HIV-positive. How many more years did you give Magic? Three, four, maybe five?

Over the last 28 years, we’ve watched Magic briefly return to the NBA, coach the Lakers, announce NBA games, host a talk show, open movie theaters and coffee shops, buy a stake in the L.A. Dodgers and serve as Lakers president.

It would have been impossible in 1991 to conceive of Magic cycling through all those career choices because we couldn’t have imagined him having the time. But now, it’s fairly common to hear of people who’ve lived for decades after a positive diagnosis.

Their longevity shouldn’t be used to minimize the seriousness of the virus. If left untreated, HIV will cause AIDS, and AIDS will kill. But the advancements in treatment and prevention are reason enough to reconsider some of the decades-old laws that were drafted to punish people who sleep with others without informing them that they’re HIV-positive. Those laws were largely based on the belief that there was nothing on the other side of an HIV diagnosis but sickness and death.

In Ohio, a person who is HIV-positive can be sentenced up to eight years in prison and made to register as a sex offender for engaging in sexual conduct without disclosing their status.

What if that person uses a condom?

It doesn’t matter.

What if the person is faithfully taking pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PReP, which, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “reduces the risk of getting HIV from sex by about 99%”

That doesn’t matter, either.

What if long after the fact, the partner tests negative for the virus?

Not even that matters. The offense, according to the law, is not telling. The crime isn’t the transmission. The crime isn’t even the likelihood of transmission. Just the not telling. Even if the person is reasonably trusting the science that says transmitting the virus is virtually impossible.

Greg Cote told Columbus radio station WOSU last month that he has made himself into a walking billboard proclaiming that he’s HIV-positive. As a policy, everybody should be as honest as he is. Even so, Cote hasn’t been intimate with anybody, he said, because if a bitter lover claims they weren’t informed, it can be difficult for people with HIV to prove to the satisfaction of jurors that they were, indeed, honest and forthcoming about their status.

A 2004 episode of The Chappelle Show included a sketch about “The Love Contract,” which was described as a way that people engaged in casual sex could prove in court that their partners consented. As absurd as the idea of a pre-coital contract sounds, advocates for Ohio’s HIV-positive residents say that or something close to that is required for them to prove that they haven’t been dishonest with their partners.

The Ohio Health Modernization Movement advises sexually active HIV-positive people to do one of the following things: save email or text messages that indicate that a potential partner has been informed of the person’s status; take that potential partner to a doctor’s visit or a caseworker’s visit so a third-party can confirm a disclosure was made; discuss one’s status in front of a third-party who can attest that a disclosure was made; video a conversation of a disclosure or, lastly, do what Chappelle did in that comedy sketch and have a potential partner sign a document. This document would acknowledge the partner’s awareness of the positive person’s status.

The best way for a HIV-positive people to protect themselves from criminal prosecution for consensual sex is to not getting tested. After all, Ohio law doesn’t allow people who don’t know that they’re HIV-positive to be charged with not telling their partners that they are. And this, advocates say, provides a regrettable incentive for people to avoid finding out if they’re carrying the virus.

The advocates’ position lines up with the federal government’s. In a 2014 report, the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice cited a CDC finding that the stigma associated with an HIV diagnosis discourages many from learning their status. That DOJ report notes that “intentional HIV transmission is atypical and uncommon” and suggests that states rewrite their laws to focus on two types of offenders: HIV-positive rapists whose crimes put their victims at risk of contracting the virus and people who intend to transmit HIV through behavior that carries a “significant risk of transmission.”

Such a focus is warranted. Prosecutors shouldn’t be pursuing those who aren’t trying to infect their partners, especially those who’ve been made to believe that they can’t. The American Medical Association has called for a complete repeal of HIV criminalization laws, but the Ohio Health Modernization Movement favors changing a failure to disclose one’s status from a felony to a misdemeanor.

After retiring in 1991, Magic tried to return to the court in 1992, but many players expressed a fear of playing against him. But in 1996, Magic did return with hardly anybody objecting. Players had a better understanding, then, about how the virus is transmitted. And we have an even better understanding of things in 2019. It’s time our laws reflected that new understanding.

Jarvis DeBerry is a columnist at Cleveland.com and a member of the editorial board. Reach him at jdeberry@cleveland.com or on Twitter at @jarvisdeberry.

Australia: Northern Territory new sex industry bill decriminalises sex work

UNAIDS welcomes the decision by the Northern Territory of Australia to decriminalize sex work

GENEVA, 2 December 2019—UNAIDS applauds the decision by the parliament of Australia’s Northern Territory to decriminalize sex work. The Sex Industry Bill 2019 enhances the safety of sex workers and their clients by applying public health legislation to operators of sex service businesses and by allowing sex workers to work together. The legislation explicitly prohibits the exploitation of sex workers, supports their access to justice and outlaws any involvement of children.

“I commend this decision by Australia’s Northern Territory, which upholds the human rights of sex workers and means that they can operate within existing laws and regulations, including laws relating to employment, occupational health and safety, workers’ rights and discrimination,” said the UNAIDS Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima. “The decriminalization of sex work reduces the risk of HIV transmission for both sex workers and their clients.”

Globally, sex workers are 21 times more likely to acquire HIV than the general adult population. A 2014 study published in the Lancet indicated that the decriminalization of sex work is the single intervention that would have the greatest impact on the course of the HIV epidemic over 10 years, with reductions in new HIV infections among sex workers and their clients estimated at between 33% and 46%.

“This is a huge achievement built on the advocacy of sex workers and their supporters over many years and the result of best practice collaboration between the government and sex workers,” said the Chief Executive Officer of Scarlet Alliance, the Australian Sex Workers’ Association, Jules Kim. “Decriminalization means that sex workers in the Northern Territory are able to access justice in the event of a crime without fear of being arrested. We will also be able to implement occupational health and safety strategies and prioritize the health and safety of all those involved in sex work.”

Kenya: Advocates argue that HIV criminalisation law is impeding progress in Kenya’s response to the epidemic

Group criticises sexual offences law in war against HIV

In Summary

Despite the opposition from the State, persons living with HIV and Aids want the courts to declare section 26 of the Sexual Offences Act unlawful.
But the state argues that the challenged provisions are clear, precise, unambiguous, and do not disclose any infringement of their constitutional rights

The government could be shooting itself in the foot in the ongoing efforts to contain the spread of HIV and Aids by allowing the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to arrest and commence criminal trial against those suspected of spreading the virus.

The state has been calling on the public to come out openly and seek testing and treatment.

However, recent events where the DPP wants a 42-year-old woman in Nakuru jailed for breastfeeding and infecting her neighbour’s nine-month-old baby with HIV last year, could undo the gains already made in containing the spread of the virus.

It is feared that such prosecution may discourage others from going public about their status and seeking treatment among other state interventions aimed at curbing the virus.

The law under which the woman was charged, Section 26 of the Sexual Offences Act, is also the subject of litigation at the High Court by HIV positive persons (PLWHA) who want it repealed.

The woman’s lawyer, Ms Jenifer Mugweru, is appealing the orders issued by a magistrate on October 18, requiring her to provide her blood samples to be tested for HIV.

INFORMED CONSENT

The woman who is out on a Sh50,000 bond is said to have committed the offence on September 18, 2018 at Gichobo area in Njoro Sub-County.

The HIV and Aids Prevention and Control Act (Hapca), which has been in force since 2009, provides at Section 14 that, “No person shall undertake an HIV test in respect of another person except: (a) with the informed consent of that other person.”

Informed consent refers to consent given with the full knowledge of the risks involved, probable consequences and the range of alternatives available.

“Informed consent for HIV testing means that the person being tested for HIV agrees to undergo the test on the basis of understanding the testing procedures, the reasons for the testing, and is able to assess the personal implications of having or not having the test performed,” the HIV and Aids Tribunal ruled in one of its decisions.

In their application challenging Section 26 of the Sexual Offences Act, and its subsections, people living with HIV and Aids argue that it could undermine government efforts to eradicate or contain HIV and Aids spread.

They have interpreted section 26 of the Sexual Offences Act to imply that a person living with the disease is a potential criminal, who needs to be prosecuted and jailed, should it be established that he or she is “spreading” HIV/Aids.

POTENTIAL CRIMINAL

Section 26(1) of the Sexual Offences Act provides that “any person who, having actual knowledge that he or she is infected with HIV or any other ‘life threatening’ sexually transmitted disease, intentionally, knowingly and wilfully does anything or permits the doing of anything which he or she knows ….

“ … (a) Will infect another with HIV or any other ‘life threatening’ sexually transmitted disease … Shall be guilty of an offence, whether or not he or she is married to that other person, and shall be liable upon conviction to imprisonment for a term of not less than fifteen years but which may be for life.”

The effect of this section and its subsidiary sections is that it perpetuates discrimination, stigma and fear against persons with HIV/Aids.

Living with the disease makes a person a criminal waiting to be arrested, prosecuted and visited with a lengthy jail term.

“It therefore discourages people from testing for HIV, seeking treatment and disclosing their status,” the litigants said in court papers.

According to people living with HIV and Aids, knowledge of one’s HIV status is important because it allows one to seek treatment and greatly reduces if not eliminates the risk of further transmission.

It also makes it possible to employ a range of other transmission prevention strategies and can improve expansion of HIV diagnosis and treatment, therefore a necessary condition for a successful HIV response.

“Section 26 of the Act thereby threatens progress gained and severely constrains further progress in Kenya’s response to the HIV epidemic,” the PLWHA argue.

PRIVACY

The section, according to the group, also intrudes on the privacy of marriage between consenting parties, it creates stigma and discrimination against couples in which one partner has HIV and the other does not (discordant couples).

It criminalises consensual physical intimacy between partners, threatens to separate families by removing a parent or partner from the family to be incarcerated (it criminalises procreation between discordant couples).

The group says the section creates stigma and discrimination against breastfeeding whereas this is the means by which most people in Kenya nourish their infants, and the only practical means by which to do so for many as well as the medically suggested means including people with HIV.

“And in that it threatens to separate children from their parents by removing the parent from the child to be incarcerated for lengthy periods on the basis of their HIV status, whereas it is in the presumptive interest of the child to be raised by both parents,” said PLWHA in court papers.

The group also takes issue with the meaning of the term “life-threatening sexually transmitted disease” or what constitutes it, saying it has not been explained in the Act, and the law is therefore vague in that respect.

VICTIM’S INTENTION

The state in defending the law disagrees with the arguments being advanced by the group, saying the challenged provisions are clear, precise, unambiguous, and do not disclose any infringement of their constitutional rights.

The group wants the court to declare Section 26 of the Sexual Offences Act unlawful. The case is still pending in the high court.

Further, that it is important to appreciate why section 26 of the Sexual Offences Act was enacted.

“While examining whether a particular law is unconstitutional, the court must have regard not only to its purpose but also its effect. The purpose of section 26 of the Sexual Offences Act was to address the intentional spread of HIV and Aids,” state counsel Anne Wanjiku Mwangi in court papers.

Despite the opposition from the State, persons living with HIV and Aids want the courts to declare section 26 of the Sexual Offences Act unlawful.