Examines how people living with HIV perceive the law and the legal obligation to disclose serostatus to prospective sexual partners. Notes perceptions of a changing public climate resulting from the increasing prominence of criminal discourses applied to HIV.
Results from the Roundtable on Criminalization of HIV and women in BC Priority Setting Day
Outlines the impact of the criminalization of HIV on women, and sets research and advocacy priorities to inform policy and practice.
Positive Women: Exposing Injustice
Documentary film (45 min) tells the personal stories of four women living with HIV in Canada and their experiences with HIV disclosure, the criminal law, and stigma and discrimination.
Women and the Criminalization of HIV Non-Disclosure
Outlines the history of HIV prosecutions against women in Canada and why criminalization is bad for women. Includes recommendations for reform.
Impacts of criminalization on the everyday lives of people living with HIV in Canada
Based on interviews with people living with HIV, participants reported that HIV prosecutions had created a heightened sense of fear, vulnerability and stigma – “consequences that can run contrary to the ostensible objective of discouraging behaviour likely to transmit HIV.”
HIV Disclosure to Sexual Partners: An Overview
Considers issues around disclosure of HIV status including human rights, ethical obligations to prevent transmission and the complexity of disclosure.
The gender of lying: Feminist perspectives on the non-disclosure of HIV status
Arguing from a feminist perspective, this article contends that non-disclosure of HIV status to one’s sexual partner should not vitiate consent to sexual activity. Considers the gendered effect of lying, and how HIV status intersects with the power imbalance at the root of sexual assault. Discusses the tension between the need for women to protect both their medical information and their sexual integrity. Also considers the role of stigma in preventing disclosure.
The obligation to disclose HIV-positive status under Canadian criminal law
Explains when there is a legal duty to disclose HIV-positive status to sexual partners, what can happen when a person doesn’t disclose, and what to do if a person is worried about being charged.
How health care and social service providers can support positive people
Designed to help health and service providers to support PLHIV who are thinking about disclosing their HIV status, the guide provides commentary on obstacles to disclosure, personal biases and concerns for public safety. Also lists agencies providing support for service providers.
The problem of ‘significant risk’: Exploring the public health impact of criminalizing HIV non-disclosure
Emphasizes that the concept of significant risk undermines communication about transmission risk during HIV counselling and contributes to contradictory advice about disclosure obligations. Criminalization discourages openness about HIV non-disclosure in counselling relationships. The recontextualization of public health interpretations of significant risk in criminal proceedings can intensify criminalization.