News curated from other sources

New sexual assault trial ordered for man accused of reneging on promise to wear protection B.C.’s appeal court has ordered a new trial for a man acquitted of sexual assault after he allegedly reneged on a promise to wear a condom…

The Supreme Court today unanimously upheld the constitutionality of R.C. 2903.11(B)(1), Ohio’s HIV-disclosure statute, which makes it a crime for a person who has tested positive for HIV to knowingly engage in sexual conduct with another without disclosing that information, concluding…

As states and municipalities struggle with how to enforce COVID-19 distancing and shutdown measures, many HIV criminal law reform advocates are looking warily at the news and waiting for history to repeat, or at least rhyme. Advocates expect new criminal…

Proposed laws to forcibly test prisoners for HIV have no basis in science, perpetuate stigma, and should be referred to a parliamentary committee, according to the West Australian AIDS Council and National Association for People with HIV Australia. Under laws…

While the number of newly confirmed coronavirus cases in Oklahoma yo-yos between 70 to 100+ each day, the state’s Republican-controlled legislator made it a priority to pass a needlessly stigmatizing law requiring anyone handling human remains to be notified if a recently…

How LGBTQ2 communities are affected, what laws remain in place and what’s being done to end unjust criminalization In early February, a man identified only by the initials N.G. had his appeal heard at Ontario’s Superior Court in what advocacy groups hoped…

The Criminal Code potentially considers every HIV-positive citizen to be a criminal, not a person in need of state support. Why do criminal measures against Tajiks living with HIV contribute to the rapid growth of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the…

Though maybe not nationally recognized yet, the push to decriminalize sex work, substance use, and HIV has been one of the strongest and fiercest movements of our time. Activists globally are working with legislators to introduce bills that protect communities…

New round of HIV criminalization in Poland This week, Polish President Andrzej Duda signed a law amending the country’s Criminal Code. Its content, coupled with other measures to combat COVID-19, was originally intended to create better conditions for overcoming the crisis. However,…

“Lawmakers Finally Pass HIV Modernization Bill in Florida to End HIV Epidemic by 2030.” This should have been the headline at the end of the Florida legislative session in Tallahassee, which concluded on March 12. Instead, Florida lawmakers missed the…

For Immediate Release March 12, 2020 Media Contact Rachel Dowd dowd@law.ucla.edu (310) 206-8982 (office) | (310) 855-2696 (cell) The laws deter testing, disclosure, and other HIV prevention strategies Florida’s HIV criminal laws may undermine the state’s public health efforts by…

The Georgia House voted to approve HIV criminal justice reforms Thursday. It still needs approval by the state Senate to become law. Republican Rep. Deborah Silcox shepherded the bill through. “It is my sincere hope that this bill will reduce the number…

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee and Congresswoman Jenniffer González Colón, Co-Chairs of the Congressional HIV/AIDS Caucus, reintroduced the Repeal Existing Policies that Encourage and Allow Legal (REPEAL) HIV Discrimination Act, which would modernize laws and policies to eliminate discrimination…

67% of people arrested under state laws that criminalize HIV exposure and transmission are sex workers. But new legislation meant to modernize these laws would retain harsh penalties against them. Florida is one of 26 states that have criminal laws that apply…

While hailed by the country’s leading tax-financed sexual education institution as a “big victory”, the decision sparked ire as many saw it as “legalising the spread of HIV”. The Swedish Parliament has voted to urge the government to completely abolish the co-called…

OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Washington Legislature on Tuesday approved a bill that reduces the crime of intentionally exposing a sexual partner to HIV from a felony to a misdemeanor. Supporters of the change to the rarely used law say the…

The point of departure for this blog is the apparent frequency of criminalization strategies in early government responses to the Coronavirus. While much attention has been given to the securitization of global health responses – also in the case of Corona – less systematic…

For Immediate Release February 26, 2020 Media Contact Rachel Dowd dowd@law.ucla.edu (310) 206-8982 (office) | (310) 855-2696 (cell) The cost of incarceration related to these crimes, to date, is $17.7 million. Between 1990 and 2019, at least 593 people were…

​New laws to make compulsory the testing of a prisoner accused of assault for an infectious disease Current laws mean an officer has to wait three months to know if they are possibly infected Prisoner’s blood-virus infection status would be…

FEMALE parliamentarians have called for the decriminalisation of wilful transmission of HIV, saying women were the most affected by the law. The issue came out on Thursday last week in the National Assembly during debate on the Second Reading Stage…

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…

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…

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…

 Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation. by Mandeep Dhaliwal  The potential for technology to transform health services is tremendous, but advances in digital health can bring privacy and data…

I remember when I first heard the statement in 2017: the science-based evidence that stated people living with HIV taking antiretroviral medication who had attained an undetectable viral load no longer transmitted the virus. The slogan “U=U” (undetectable equals untransmittable)…