Bob Leahy: Thank you for talking to PositiveLite.com about your case. Now before we get in to that, I want you to tell me first your background. Ken Pinkela: Sure! Ken Pinkela is still a card-carrying Lieutenant Colonel in the (US) army.
Canada: Social media campaign ‘Think Twice’ uses video to ask gay men to reconsider pressing charges for HIV non-disclosure
Last week saw the launch of a new phase of a targeted social marketing campaign by AIDS ACTION NOW! (AAN) that features 42 short videos from members and allies of Toronto’s LGBTQI community.
‘Think Twice’ asks HIV-negative and untested gay, bi, queer and trans men to reconsider pressing charges for HIV non-disclosure (where there was no alleged HIV transmission) when they discover that a sexual partner has not disclosed their HIV-positive status before sex.
In October 2012, the Supreme Court of Canada confirmed that non-disclosure of known HIV status can be charged as aggravated sexual assault – with up to life imprisonment and sex offender registration – even if the person with HIV uses a condom: in order to avoid legal liability, they must also have a low viral load.
‘Think Twice’ is an AAN campaign originally launched just prior to the Supreme Court’s ruling aimed at decreasing the number of criminal prosecutions related to HIV non-disclosure. AAN want people involved in the criminalisation of HIV non-disclosure—people living with HIV, their sexual partners, police, Crown prosecutors, health care providers and others—to consider the complexity and uncertainty of Canada’s overly broad approach to HIV criminalisation, and the implications of their role in criminal prosecutions for HIV non-disclosure.
The first part of their campaign targeted Crown prosecutors since they play a pivotal role in driving criminal prosecutions.
Since December 2012, the ‘Think Twice’ campaign has also focused on another key advocacy target – potential complainants.
This new phase of the ‘Think Twice’ campaign focuses specifically on gay, queer, and trans men and other men who have sex with men, due a change in community norms in the past few years that has resulted in an increase in the numbers of men going to the police to lay charges against other men living with HIV.
According to the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, while the majority of cases in Canada are against men who had sex with women, an increasing number of gay men and other men who have sex with men are being charged and prosecuted in Canada. Whereas there were only five known cases prior to 2006, a further 25 cases have been tracked up to December 2013.
In 2014, there has been at least one new case against a gay man. Another – where two men met in a Montreal sauna – dating back to 2005, is due to be heard by the Supreme Court of Canada next month.
For this latest phase of the ‘Think Twice’ campaign, AAN placed an open call for gay, queer, bi and trans men, and their allies, to make a video that answered the question: ‘In 45 seconds what would you say to gay men to convince them to think twice before going to the police when a sex partner hasn’t disclosed to them.’
Although they only expected to make 25, a total of 42 individuals made videos, in a project organised by Jordan Bond-Gorr, Lauryn Kronick, Tim McCaskell and Eric Mykhalovskiy and filmed by multi-disciplinary artist, John Caffery, in Toronto over one weekend in August.
The videos – along with the website www.thinktwicehiv.com – were launched on 18th November at Toronto’s Buddies in Bad Times theatre.
This compilation of 18 of the videos, produced by the HIV Justice Network, highlights the breadth of messages and the range of stakeholders involved.
It features (in order of appearance):
and John Greyson.
For more information about this campaign, visit the ‘Think Twice’ FAQ page.
Germany: Female sex worker with HIV found guilty again of perceived ‘HIV exposure’ locked up for at least nine years under ‘preventive detention’ law [Updated]
The District Court of Oldenburg has sent a 30-year-old female sex worker to prison for at least nine years under Germany’s ‘preventive detention’ law, because she has shown a pattern of not disclosing to clients that she was living with HIV before they chose to have condomless sex with her.
The judge sentenced the woman from the north German port town and naval base of Wilhelmshaven to four years after finding her guilty of two counts of attempted aggravated assault (for perceived HIV exposure), with at least five years further ‘preventive detention’.
The woman had previously been found guilty of of attempted aggravated assault (for perceived HIV exposure) and sentenced to two and a half years in prison by the District Court in Wilhelmshaven in early 2010. This was increased to three and a half years by the Oldenburg District Court in late 2010.
According to the prosecution, this latest case involved three different male clients between August and November 2013.
This trial took place in private without any members of the media or public able to attend, apparently to protect the privacy of both the accused and her clients.
A spokesperson for the Oldenburg Regional Court told NDR.de that ‘preventive detention’ can be imposed for offenses “directed against life and limb. Also, for repeat offenders, the courts may order a preventive detention. In addition, preventive detention serves to protect the public from dangerous offenders.”
The Court believed they were justified under all three criteria.
The woman has been in custody since March 2014. After serving four years in prison for the ‘attempted aggravated assault’ charges (for perceived HIV exposure), she will remain in custody for a minimum of five more years. She will then be examined by an expert who will decide whether or not she can be released.
Source: NDR.de Ungeschützer Sex trotz HIV: Frau wird sicherungsverwahrt 15 October 2014 and NWZ online Justiz soll Prostituierte aus Verkehr ziehen 17 September 2014.
Update 17 October 2014
Deutsche AIDS Hilfe has reacted to the ruling with a strongly worded press release, confirming that this is the first German HIV-related case to involve preventive detention, and stating that anyone who has condomless sex – especially with a sex worker – needs to be aware of the risk of acquiring HIV since “HIV cannot be locked up”.
Germany’s top HIV legal expert, Jacob Hösl, is now supporting the woman, and hopes to take her case to the Supreme Court.
The press release (in German) can be read here. An approximate English translation is below.
Deutsche AIDS Hilfe: HIV cannot be locked away!
The Oldenburg District Court has imposed a prison sentence and preventive detention against HIV-positive woman – a fatal signal for HIV prevention.
The District Court of Oldenburg has sentenced a 30-year-old HIV-positive woman from Wilhelmshaven to four years in prison and five years of preventive detention because the sex worker had unprotected sex with multiple clients. No HIV transmission is alleged.
Manuel Izdebski, from the Board of Deutsche AIDS-Hilfe (DAH) notes:
“This ruling sends a completely wrong signal and harms HIV prevention. That the criminal law only places the responsibility for HIV prevention on people with HIV remains a scandal. Imprisonment and preventive detention create a dangerous false sense of security. Everyone needs to know that with unprotected sex there is a risk of HIV infection received, and must protect themselves. HIV cannot be locked away!”
To the knowledge of Deutsche AIDS-Hilfe, this is the nation’s first case of this kind, in which preventive detention was ordered. The female accused had already been convicted several times for similar “offenses”. To our knowledge no actual HIV transmission occurred in any of the cases.
In the current case, the court informed us on request that the woman had interrupted her HIV treatment during the relevant time and so HIV transmission was therefore possible.
In an earlier judgment, the Oldenburg District Court noted that the woman had a “personality disorder” and suffered from “multi-year alcohol abuse”. And before the sexual encounters she is said to have consumed alcohol to a considerable extent.
“That makes it all the clearer that you have to protect youself against HIV and not be allowed to rely on your partner,” says DAH Board member Manuel Izdebski. “Maybe they are just not in a position to assume this responsibility.”
The criminalisation of (potential) HIV transmission is considered by Deutsche AIDS-Hilfe to be counterproductive in every way. Criminal liability is also made on false premises. Manuel Izdebski notes:
“The victim-offender paradigm of criminal law is totally inappropriate for consensual sex without a condom, because it ‘takes two to tango’. The condition [that might support a prosecution] that the person with HIV wants to harm their partner has not been met here. The reasons for the abandonment of protection are much more complex. For example, it may be unspeakably difficult to address their own HIV infection, because it is associated with a great deal stigma and the fear of rejection”.
Uganda: Civil society coalition condemns President Museveni for signing HIV Prevention and Control Bill into law
[Press Statement from the Coalition for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Act]
Civil society organisations reacted harshly today to the assent by President Museveni on July 31 2014 to Uganda’s controversial HIV Bill, the HIV Prevention and Control Act of 2014, which was passed on May 13 2014 by Ugandan Parliament. This law has been publicly criticised by officials leading the HIV response in Uganda, such as the AIDS Control Programme of the Ministry of Health and the Uganda AIDS Commission, entities that repeatedly told media that this Act would take Uganda‟s AIDS response in “the wrong direction.”
“We are outraged that Uganda would willingly embrace backwards laws and policies,” said Lilian Mworeko of ICW East Africa. “How can we achieve the AIDS Free Generation that government has committed to when Uganda adopts such a law?”
The law has been assessed by experts in Uganda such as UNAIDS and the Ugandan Human Rights Commission, as discriminatory, with key provisions that will impede the fight against AIDS.The controversial provisions in the Act include: mandatory HIV testing for pregnant women and their partners, and allows medical providers to disclose a patient’s HIV status to others without consent. The bill also criminalises HIV transmission, attempted transmission, and behaviour that might result in transmission by those who know their HIV status.
“Why is Uganda avoiding evidence of what works in the AIDS response?” asked Kikonyogo Kivumbi of UHSPA. “It is founded on stigma and discrimination and based on outmoded and unnecessary approaches that have been condemned by health agencies as ineffective and violating the rights of people living with HIV.”
Mandatory HIV testing and the disclosure of medical information without consent are contrary to international best practices and violate fundamental human rights. The criminalization of HIV transmission, attempted transmission, and behaviour that might result in transmission by those who know their HIV status is overly broad, and difficult to enforce.
The organisations are exploring a legal challenge to the Act, considering these violations.
“We are gravely concerned that this Law will drive people at risk of HIV infection, in particular criminalised populations such as sex workers and gay men, further from life saving services they need,” said Asia Russell of Health GAP.
President Museveni‟s assent came despite criticism by the Ministry of Health’s AIDS Control Programme, and the Board Chair of the Uganda AIDS Commission, Professor Vinand Nantulya, along with many independent health rights groups in Uganda. They oppose the contentious clauses and called on Uganda to fight HIV with more effective legislation.
“For Uganda to address its HIV epidemic effectively, it needs to partner with people living with HIV, not blame them, criminalise them, and exclude them from policy making,” said Dorah Kiconco, executive director of Uganda Network on Law, Ethics & HIV/AIDS.
US: Lambda Legal calls for halt to HIV-based criminal prosecutions in wake of Department of Justice guidance
[Press release from Lambda Legal]
“We call upon those charged with enforcing such laws—from governors to prosecutors to police detectives—to halt the criminal prosecution and resulting persecution of any individual based on HIV status.”
(Washington, D.C. Thursday, July 17, 2014) – Lambda Legal today called for a moratorium on all HIV-based criminal prosecutions until state legislatures take action to implement the reforms recommended in the recent Department of Justice (DOJ) guidance advising states to eliminate such prosecutions absent clear evidence of an intent to harm and a significant risk of actual transmission.
“This is a watershed moment in the fight to decriminalize HIV. When the country’s leading law enforcement agency — working hand-in-hand with the country’s leading public health authority — reaches the conclusion that particular laws and criminal prosecutions are working at cross-purposes to our national strategy for ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic, it is time for those with the power to end these prosecutions to take immediate action,” said Scott Schoettes, HIV Project Director for Lambda Legal. “We call upon those charged with enforcing such laws—from governors to prosecutors to police detectives—to halt the criminal prosecution and resulting persecution of any individual based on HIV status.”
Earlier this year, the DOJ co-authored an article with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analyzing the current landscape with respect to HIV criminalization laws in the United States. As a follow-up, the DOJ this week published guidance (“Best Practices Guide to Reform HIV-Specific Criminal Laws to Align with Scientifically-Supported Factors” [link]) noting that these laws are not based on a current understanding of HIV or the availability of biomedical techniques for preventing its transmission, were enacted when the prognosis of those with access to care was much different than it is today, and place unique and unnecessary additional burdens on people living with HIV.
Schoettes added, “For years, Lambda Legal has been advocating for the repeal or reform of HIV criminalization laws, assisting defense attorneys from behind the scenes, and—when the opportunity arose and a solid legal argument could be made—fighting in court ourselves against the most egregious application of such laws. Along with a wide range of allies we have refined the arguments against these laws, made our case to audiences both gay and straight, and pressed others to join our cause. The growing drumbeat against these laws and unjust prosecutions finally has reached the ears of those in positions of authority. And this summer, the tide has finally turned in our favor.”
Within the criminal justice system, prosecutors have a significant degree of discretion and represent the most important safeguard against unjust applications of the criminal law. In this circumstance, any government attorney who is currently prosecuting a criminal case that turns upon the HIV status of the defendant is invested with the power to consider whether that prosecution conforms to the best practices set forth by the Department of Justice guidance and to discontinue prosecutions that are not in line it. In situations involving consensual sexual conduct between adults, a prosecution would not move forward under the parameters of this guidance unless there is clear evidence of both the intent to transmit the virus and a significant risk of transmission as a result of that person’s conduct.
“Right now, dozens of individuals in states all across the country face prosecutions that are not justifiable under the parameters set forth in the DOJ guidance,” said Schoettes. “No person who is in a position to halt such a prosecution should stand idly by while these individuals are subjected to such unwarranted persecution. We call upon those who have pledged themselves to pursue justice on behalf of the communities they serve to fulfill that pledge now, to end all prosecutions based on HIV status, and to return these individuals to their families and their lives.”
Last month, in a pivotal appeal litigated by Lambda Legal, the Iowa Supreme Court set aside the conviction of Nick Rhoades, an HIV-positive Iowan who was initially sentenced to 25 years in prison, with required registration as a sex offender, after having a one-time sexual encounter with another man during which they used a condom. In reversing the conviction, the Court questioned whether HIV-positive individuals who have a reduced viral load as a result of effective treatment can transmit HIV through sexual activity.
The DOJ guidance is available here
The Iowa Supreme Court ruling in Lambda Legal’s case Rhoades v. Iowa is available here
VAC and Living Positive Victoria call for reform of state's HIV-specific criminal laws
VICTORIA’S two main HIV and AIDS organisations have released a joint statement urging their state government to reform its HIV-specific criminal law. In a joint policy discussion paper focusing on the repeal of section 19A of the Victorian Crimes Act, the Victorian AIDS Council (VAC) and Living Positive Victoria (LPV) stated that reform needed to happen in order to achieve the goal of eliminating HIV transmissions by 2020.
US: On eve of national HIV criminalisation conference Iowa's remarkable advocacy success is the model for other states to follow
If Gov. Terry Branstad signs Senate File 2297 on Friday as planned, Iowa will become the first state in the country to repeal and replace its criminal transmission of HIV law, activists say.
The law being reformed had been on the books since 1998. A broad coalition of groups, led by the Community HIV and Hepatitis Advocates of Iowa Network (CHAIN), has been working for the past five years to modernize it.
Advocates said the new law better reflects advances in science, medicine and understanding of how HIV is transmitted.
Until now, Iowa has had one of the harshest HIV transmission laws in the country. Under the 1998 law, persons with HIV could face 25 years in prison and inclusion on the sex offender registry if they could not prove they disclosed their status to a sexual partner — even if no transmission occurred and precautions such as condoms were used.
Under the new law, there is a tiered penalty system, which takes into account whether a person took precautions, whether transmission of HIV actually occurred and whether or not the person intended to transmit HIV.
The new law also adds other infectious diseases to the bill such as hepatitis, tuberculosis and meningococcal disease, which causes meningitis — so the law is no longer HIV-specific.
Finally, it removes the requirement those convicted register as sex offenders, and it will allow people convicted under the old law to be expunged from the registry.
Both the Iowa House and Senate unanimously approved the bill this year, a stark contrast to the four previous years, when similar bills languished in the legislature.
“You have to be in it for the long haul. It’s not an easy process,” CHAIN community organizer Tami Haught said of the group’s lobbying efforts. “We’re still dealing with a lot of the stigma that was around in the ’80s.”
She said when activists set out to change the law five years ago, they hoped to simply see the criminalization law repealed. But that wasn’t palatable to some lawmakers and county prosecutors, who said they still wanted to hold people with HIV accountable for protecting their sexual partners.
Finding ways to compromise was key to getting the sweeping bipartisan support needed, Haught said. Other tactics included meeting frequently with lawmakers, engaging in community education and gathering as many organizations to voice their support as possible.
CHAIN partnered with groups ranging from the Iowa Attorney General’s Office and the Iowa Department of Health to the League of Women Voters, the Family Planning Council and the Interfaith Alliance.
“We were up at the capitol almost every day it was in session talking with legislators. and that’s what needed to happen,” Haught said. “In 2014, maybe there was only one legislator who was not familiar with the law. When we started, a majority of legislators didn’t even know the law existed.”
NATIONAL ACTIVISTS LOOK TO IOWA
CHAIN’s tactics will be on display next week. The changes to Iowa’s law made national news, and activists hope to replicate those efforts in other states.
National group the Sero Project, founded by Iowa City native Sean Strub, is organizing a conference, HIV Is Not a Crime, to be held in Grinnell starting on Monday of next week.
Numerous laws similar to Iowa’s were passed in different parts of the country in the late 1990s in the wake of a high profile 1996 incident in New York. In that case, a man was charged with intentionally infecting 13 women and girls with HIV.
Additional pressure came from the federal government, which at the time required states to have an HIV transmission law on the books to access federal funding for HIV prevention and treatment through the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act.
Today, there are 34 states with a HIV-specific criminalization on the books. Only two had harsher penalties than Iowa. Now, Iowa has become a model for how change could happen elsewhere.
When they started work on the conference, organizers were hoping for perhaps 50 people to attend. As of earlier this week, more than 170 activists from across the United States and four other countries have signed up to spend June 2 through 5 to learn and share lobbying and education techniques related to HIV transmission decriminalization.
“We wanted to bring advocates to one place and give them the tools to go home and try to modernize the laws,” Haught said.
Foremost of those tools should be a willingness for people living with HIV to share their own stories, she said.
“We need to speak up and show we are your neighbors, your friends, your family members,” she said. “Sharing our stories had a great impact on legislators.”
Some of those who has shared their stories include Iowans convicted under the 1998 law. One of those is Donald Bogardus, 43, of Waterloo.
GETTING HIS LIFE BACK
Bogardus was convicted under the old law after authorities said he had unprotected sex with a man three times in 2009.
The man didn’t contract HIV. Bogardus had an undetectable viral load, which means the virus could not be detected in his blood.
People with an undetectable viral load have almost no chance of transmitting the virus. The new law takes that into consideration when sentencing — the old law did not.
“It was not my intent to hurt him by far,” Bogardus said in a video the Sero Project made to tell his story. “The reason I didn’t disclose was I was afraid of rejection. I was afraid of being talked about. I was afraid of losing a friend.”
He spent two months in prison — he was facing 25 years — before receiving a suspended sentence in February, with two to five years of probation. He also had to register as a sex offender, which meant he lost his job as a certified nursing assistant at Country View, a Black Hawk County-owned nursing and mental health care center.
Now that his name will be taken off the registry, effective July 1, he’s hopeful he will be able to return to his old job.
“It has lifted a burden off of me. I’m just being able to get my life back,” he told The Gazette. “I felt like I was in a big cage, and now I feel some relief.”
He also believes the changed law will encourage more people to get tested in the first place because, under the old law, the only defense was not knowing you were HIV positive. The new law also encourages behavior public health officials are pushing, Haught said.
“Now we are incentivizing doing the right thing. If you are taking your medication and using protection, you can’t be prosecuted,” she said.
She said she wants HIV to be treated just as any other communicable disease.
“We’re hoping this will help reduce the stigma associated with being HIV positive and encourage testing and treatment,” she said.
Read more: http://thegazette.com/subject/news/new-hiv-transmission-law-makes-iowa-model-for-nation-20140529#ixzz33CDVnzKV
Australia: Campaign against Victoria’s HIV-specific criminal law launched to tie in with Melbourne Declaration for AIDS 2014
Living Positive Victoria, the organisation representing people living with HIV in the Australian state of Victoria, has launched a campaign for community and cross-party political support to reform the state’s HIV-specific criminal law, the only such law in Australia.
Section 19a of the Crimes Act 1958,’ Intentionally causing a very serious disease’ states
A person who, without lawful excuse, intentionally causes another person to be infected with a very serious disease is guilty of an indictable offence.
In subsection (1) very serious disease means HIV within the meaning of section 3(1) of the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 .
The statute, which treats HIV as exceptional and applies a uniquely higher penalty than for other crimes of violence, carries a 25 year maximum penalty.
The call for law reform is a response to the release of the Melbourne Declaration in advance of the 20th International AIDS conference, also known as AIDS 2014, to be held in Melbourne in late July.
“Leading into AIDS 2014 is a highly opportune moment to grasp the issue of law reform so that HIV is treated as a public health matter,” says Ian Muchamore, President of Living Positive Victoria.
The Melbourne Declaration focuses on the need to address multiple legal barriers in the global HIV response, in order “to defeat HIV and achieve universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support”.
In line with the Oslo Declaration on HIV Criminalisation, it explicitly states that “nobody should be criminalized because they are living with HIV.” And elsewhere the Declaration “expresses concern at the continued enforcement of discriminatory, stigmatizing, criminalizing and harmful laws which lead to policies and practices that increase vulnerability to HIV.”
HIV criminalisation is set to be a major focus of international attention at AIDS 2014. Living Positive Victoria is one of the hosts of the Beyond Blame pre-conference (along with Victorian AIDS Council/Gay Men’s Health Centre, National Association of People Living with HIV Australia and Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations) which is supported by the AIDS and Rights Alliance of Southern Africa, Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, Global Network of People Living with HIV, HIV Justice Network, International Community of Women Living with HIV, Sero Project and UNAIDS.
Read and sign the Melbourne Declaration here
Read and sign the Oslo Declaration here
Read the Living Positive Victoria press release here
Register for Beyond Blame: Challenging HIV Criminalisation (July 20th, Melbourne) here
US: Iowa modernises its HIV-specific law, SF 2297 passes unanimously
(Press release from One Iowa. Further detailed analysis will be available soon)
DES MOINES–After a series of negotiations, a historic bill passed through the Iowa House early this morning that will modernize Iowa’s discriminatory HIV law. Iowa’s current law, 709c, is based on outdated science and beliefs that actually discourages testing and disclosure because of severe penalties associated with simply knowing one’s status. The new bill, Senate File 2297 (SF2297), will change the law so that it is no longer HIV specific, and converts sentencing into a tiered system instead of the “one size fits all” approach used in 709c. The bill unanimously passed the Iowa Senate in February, and moved to the House for debate this morning. The bill, which also passed unanimously in House chambers, will now head to Governor Terry Branstad’s desk for his signature.
The proposed changes to the law are supported by One Iowa, the state’s leading lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) organization, and by Community HIV/Hepatitis Advocates of Iowa Network (CHAIN), an organization that has spent the last 5 years trying to reform Iowa’s HIV law. Iowa currently has one of the harshest laws in the nation that targets people living with HIV and AIDS.
“After 5 long years of fighting to change Iowa’s law, those of us living in Iowa with HIV and AIDS can finally breathe a sigh of relief,” said Tami Haught, Community Organizer with CHAIN. “We commend the leadership in the Senate and the House for understanding the importance of this bill and the need to modernize Iowa’s draconian 709c law. None of this would be possible without the bipartisan support of Senators Matt McCoy, Steve Sodders, Charles Schneider and Rob Hogg; in addition to Representatives Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, Chris Hagenow and Chip Baltimore. The changes in this new bill are a step in the right direction.
“While the bill that passed today will have a lasting and positive effect on the lives of many Iowans who currently live with HIV and AIDS in our state, our work is far from over,” Haught added. “We must continue our outreach and education within the public sphere about the realties of those living with HIV, to dispel the harmful stereotypes, stigma and misinformation often associated with the disease. Our hope is that by beginning to modernize the laws in Iowa, it will signal other states with similar legislation to do the same. HIV is not a crime; our laws here in Iowa and across the country need to reflect this fact.”
“We are pleased to see Iowa’s policy makers move this bill forward,” said Donna Red Wing, Executive Director for One Iowa. “The changes proposed in this bill will have a profound impact on the lives of Iowans living with HIV and AIDS. This bill will send an important message across the nation, most significantly to those states that still operate under the misinformation of the past. We applaud CHAIN’s efforts, but especially the work of Community Organizer Tami Haught. Tami has fearlessly and passionately shared her story with legislators and community members alike. She has changed hearts and minds, and should be commended as one of the many unsung heroes of this movement. After 5 years of conversations and perseverance, today we celebrate a victory for Iowa’s HIV community.”
Moving from potential complainant to anti-criminalisation advocate
Dee Borrego is a 30-year-old woman, who since being diagnosed with HIV at the age of 20 has been on the forefront national HIV/AIDS activism. For Visual AIDS, Borrego has written an essay in which she talks about the anger and frustration she had towards her ex upon learning about her status, and how she has come to learn that HIV Criminalization is wrong for everyone – especially people living with HIV. The essay is part of the Visual AIDS Play Smart program, an honest and straightforward approach to promote dialogue and action around harm reduction, HIV testing, PEP & PrEP, and other contemporary issues such as HIV Criminalization and No Condoms as Evidence. To learn more: Play Smart