Decriminalizing HIV in Indiana: A Policy Analysis
This article examines Indiana’s laws, which are discriminatory and do not reflect the current science of HIV transmission. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Policy Analytical Framework was employed, and historical context and public health implications were analyzed, revealing that the most favorable solution to mitigate inequity and support prevention is to repeal HIV-related laws in Indiana. Nurse practitioners must be aware of this discriminatory legislation and contribute to advocacy efforts for policy change by leveraging clinical expertise to influence legislative discussions.
Punishing Vulnerability Through HIV Criminalization (2022)
This article explores the links between HIV criminalisation and other punitive laws and policies that regulate bodily autonomy, including reproduction, sexuality and gender.
Positive Health, Dignity and Prevention: A Policy Framework
Positive Health, Dignity and Prevention highlights the importance of placing the person living with HIV at the centre of managing their health and wellbeing. The Positive Health, Dignity and Prevention Framework requires a concerted multisectoral effort to work towards removing punitive laws and passing more laws that support and enable policies in favour of expanding programmes proven to reduce new HIV infections while protecting the human rights of people living with HIV and those who are at higher risk of exposure to the virus.
Advancing HIV Justice: Achievements and Challenges in Global Advocacy Against HIV Criminalisation – African Update (ICASA 2013)
Although North America is the continent with the most known prosecutions, 26 African countries have overly broad and/or vague HIV-specific criminal laws and another 3 are considering enacting similar laws. This analysis reviewed global efforts in five broad areas: building the global evidence base; generating persuasive social science; challenging new laws; advocating for law reform; and addressing legal processes and enforcement.
HIV Transmission in Male Serodiscordant Couples in Australia, Thailand and Brazil
Reports an interim analysis of the relationship between undetectable viral load and HIV transmission in the Opposites Attract observational cohort study of homosexual male serodiscordant couples in Australia. Finds no linked HIV transmissions in 150 ‘couple years of follow up’ among homosexual male serodiscordant couples, despite close to six thousand acts of condomless anal sex.
Transmission Routes, Viral Loads and Relative Risks: The Science of HIV for Lawyers and Advocates
This document from the Center for HIV Law and Policy, published in 2011, lists articles on a range of background issues relevant to HIV criminalisation (particularly in the U.S.) including HIV as a chronic condition, coverage under the ADAAA, transmission routes and risk, viral load and treatment, and phylogenetic analysis.
“One shouldn’t convict people for hypothetical risks”: developments in criminal law following increased knowledge and awareness of the additional prevention benefit of antiretroviral therapy
Overview of various jurisdictions shows that an increased understanding of the impact of viral load on infectiousness has resulted in a number of jurisdictions revising or revisiting their criminal laws or prosecutorial policies relating to HIV non-disclosure, exposure and/or transmission.
Prevalence and public health implications of state laws that criminalize potential HIV exposure in the United States
Describes the prevalence and characteristics of laws criminalizing HIV exposure across the U.S., examining the implications of these laws for public health practice. Finds that nearly two-thirds of states have legislation criminalizing potential HIV exposure, including behaviours that pose low or negligible risk. States are encouraged to re-examine HIV-specific laws (referencing current science) and consider whether current laws are the best vehicle to achieve their intended purposes.