What is HIV criminalization laws?
HIV criminalization laws criminalize the transmission of, or perceived exposure to, HIV and other infectious diseases. The laws create a strong disincentive for being tested for HIV, and result in adverse public health outcomes.
What states have HIV criminalization laws?
Since 2014, at least 9 states have either modernized or repealed their HIV criminalization laws to make them align with current scientific evidence. California, Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, and Virginia have modernized their laws. Illinois repealed its law.
What happens if you don’t disclose your HIV status?
In some states, you can be charged with a crime if you don’t tell your partner your HIV status, even if you used a condom or another type of protection and the partner does not become infected.
What are the legal issues in HIV confidentiality?
State and federal laws prohibit the disclosure of a person’s HIV status, except in limited instances. Maintaining the privacy of a person’s HIV status is important because discrimination against people living with HIV is still pervasive.
Do I have to disclose my undetectable status?
In addition to TasP measures, an HIV-negative person in a relationship with a positive person can take steps to protect themselves from the infection. Because of this, even if the viral loads are undetectable and transmission chances are low to non-existent, state laws still require you to disclose your status.
Can I infect my partner with an undetectable viral load?
If you take HIV medicine and get and keep an undetectable viral load, you have effectively no risk of transmitting HIV to an HIV-negative partner through sex.
Should I take PEP if my partner is undetectable?
After sexual contact with a person with diagnosed HIV and an undetectable viral load, PEP is no longer recommended if the sexual activity was unprotected vaginal intercourse, unprotected insertive anal intercourse or oral sex. But PEP is still recommended following unprotected receptive anal intercourse.
What is HIV non-disclosure and is it a crime?
“HIV non-disclosure” is the term used to describe these cases, i.e., criminal cases involving transmission, or exposure to the realistic possibility of transmission, of HIV through sexual activity. A number of offences have been applied in HIV non-disclosure cases, including aggravated sexual assault and aggravated assault.
What are HIV-specific criminal exposure laws?
During the early years of the HIV epidemic, many states implemented HIV-specific criminal exposure laws to discourage behavior that might lead to transmission, promote safer sex practices, and, in some cases, receive funds to support HIV prevention activities.
Do you have to disclose your HIV status?
In 12 states, laws require people with HIV who are aware of their status to disclose their status to sex partners, and 5 states require disclosure to needle-sharing partners. The maximum sentence length for violating an HIV-specific statute is also a matter of state law.
What is HIV/AIDS Law?
HIV-specific laws that criminalize or control behaviors that can potentially expose another person to HIV.