News curated from other sources

BC’s HIV non-disclosure rules are falling behind Advocates for people living with HIV say they are disappointed and frustrated by new guidelines from the BC Prosecution Service on how to handle HIV non-disclosure cases. Medical and legal experts on HIV…

HIV-disclosure rule lawful, Pulaski County judge rules Pulaski County Circuit Judge Leon Johnson on Friday rejected a challenge to the Arkansas law that requires anyone who has tested HIV-positive to disclose that finding to any sex partners before intimacy. “I…

Penalisation of HIV / AIDS transmission: The countries that condemn and the consequences using the law to criminalise HIV (Google translate, for original article in Spanish, scroll down) The explosive increase of cases of HIV AIDS in Chile between 2007 and…

Veracruz government asked not to criminalise people with HIV (Google translate for original article in Spanish please scroll down) August 3, 2018 The Multisectoral Group on HIV / AIDS and STIs of the State of Veracruz which asked the National…

How new bills could change Michigan’s HIV laws Kathleen Gray  Detroit Free Press Lansing Bureau Published 10:00 p.m. UTC May 24, 2018 LANSING — Since the first case of HIV/AIDS was reported in Michigan in 1981, lawmakers say treatment for the disease…

The May 2018 edition of the Positive Justice Project newsletter is available here.

Spreading HIV to your own partner is a crime but this must be reviewed, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care has said. The committee has called for the repeal of the deliberate transmission of HIV law as…

In Memory of HIV Criminalization Survivor David Plunkett By JD Davids From TheBody May 18, 2018 TheBody is sad to share the news of the recent death of David Plunkett, a survivor of HIV criminalization in New York who served half of a…

Addressing the detrimental health and human rights impacts of criminal laws People have a fundamental human right to make decisions about their lives and bodies. These rights relate to personal choices on, among other things, health care and treatment. For…

HIV cannot be transmitted by spitting, and risk from biting is negligible, says detailed case review Use of spit hoods not justified to protect emergency workers from HIV Michael Carter Published: 08 May 2018   There is no risk of transmitting…

Misinformation is the real culprit in British Columbia HIV case Police and media left out key details of HIV non-disclosure charges – By Niko Bell The case of Brian Carlisle shows that when it comes to HIV, what you don’t know can…

A Hookup Gone Wrong: Michigan’s HIV Criminalization Negatively Affects Michiganders Jeremy Merithew’s life took a turn for the worse when what was intended to be a casual hookup earned him a brush with discrimination and substantial jail time. That’s because…

You didn’t transmit HIV. You had no intent to transmit. And indeed you didn’t do anything with your sexual partner that posed a statistically significant risk of transmission. In fact, you might even have used a condom, in keeping with…

Transmitting HIV Is a Crime in Most States. Is HCV Next? Back when AIDS was dominating the news, 33 states passed laws making it illegal for HIV-infected people to have sex without their partner’s knowledge of the individual’s HIV status….

Journalist Steven Thrasher Reflects on HIV Criminalization, Race, and the Press on the Eve of Michael Johnson’s Announced Parole Decision By Tim Murphy From TheBody, April 17, 2018 The story of Michael Johnson, a gay black wrestler who named himself “Tiger Mandingo”…

Chilean Deputy: those who intentionally spread HIV should be imprisoned (Google translation – For original article in Spanish, scroll below) SANTIAGO (Sputnik) – It is necessary to send to jail those who carry the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and who…

Fear of Prosecution Over HIV Non-Disclosure Reduces HIV-Negative MSM Testing According to a recently published study, fear of prosecution over HIV non-disclosure was reported to reduce HIV testing willingness by a minority of HIV-negative men who have sex with men…

Rethinking Criminalization of HIV Exposure — Lessons from California’s New Legislation Laws that criminalize certain behaviors on the basis of the person’s HIV status have long been challenged as ineffective prevention measures that harm public health. They are nevertheless widespread:…

How State Laws Criminalize People With HIV By Victoria Mckenzie Commentators often contrast today’s treatment of the opioid crisis as a public health epidemic with the punitive approach once taken toward crack cocaine addiction. But perhaps an equally stark example of how…

How can we change the laws regarding HIV transmission & criminal offences in WA? The conviction of one & charging of another HIV+ individual in Western Australia with recklessly causing grievously bodily harm by transmitting HIV to another individual has…