Positive Transformation

Toni-Michelle Williams, the executive director of the Solutions Not Punishment Collaborative (SNaP Co.), a Black trans- and queer-led organization working to build safety, leadership and political power, explores alternatives to the historically violent and biased U.S. policing system—including restorative and transformative justice models.

Enforcement of HIV Criminalization in Tennessee

Williams Institute analysis of data from the state of Tennessee about individuals who were convicted of an HIV crime and placed on the state’s sex offender registry (SOR). In addition to the registry data, the report also analyses detailed data from 77 case files of those on Tennessee’s SOR who resided and were prosecuted in Shelby County, home of Memphis.

Sexual Behavior, Stigma, Perceived Hostility, Comfort With Disclosure and New Jersey’s HIV Exposure Law

Findings from this study indicate that the law may have minimal impact on the disclosure behavior of people with HIV, and is not an effective structural HIV prevention intervention. The researchers posit that internalized normative values likely guide disclosure, irrespective of the law. As a result, the authors argue that interventions designed “to increase comfort with seropositive status disclosure may be a better way to achieve the desired behaviors.

Evaluating The Impact of Criminal Laws On HIV Risk Behavior

This article reports on the characteristics and prevalence of HIV-specific criminal exposure and transmission laws, and the enforcement of those laws through prosecutions during the period 1986­-2001. It also examines the possible mechanisms through which criminal law influences behavior and considers how these might apply to the specific laws described.

Beyond criminalization: reconsidering HIV criminalization in an era of reform

This paper reviews recent studies examining the application of HIV-specific criminal laws in North America (particularly the United States and Canada). In the wake of the development of new biomedical prevention strategies, many states in the United States (US) have recently begun to reform or repeal their HIV-specific laws. These findings can help inform efforts to ‘modernize’ HIV laws (or, to revise in ways that reflect recent scientific advances in HIV treatment and prevention).

True Not Crime Story

Series of 4 videos from criminalisation survivors sharing their story to help others avoid their unfair experiences with the criminal justice system and HIV stigma. The videos are meant as a reminder of why these harmful HIV laws that still exist in over 30 states need to be modernised.