HIV

Charity number: 1078268 * Company registration number: 3867526

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Conference highlights “criminalisation creep”

The growing International trend towards the criminalisation of HIV transmission was documented at the recent 17th International AIDS conference.  An alarming “criminalisation creep” throughout Europe and Central Asia and the rapid spread of “highly inefficient laws” in West and Central Africa, was highlighted.  The conference heard evidence that laws enabling prosecutions for HIV exposure or transmission – whether via sex, needle-sharing or from a mother to an unborn child or infant – are high on the agenda of many nations around the globe, despite the fact that there is no evidence these laws change behaviour, and growing evidence that they may inadvertently exacerbate the HIV epidemic.

Julian Hows revealed that Sweden, Switzerland and Austria remained at the top of the prosecutions league table, followed by Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, and the UK.  He noted that in the UK although there have ‘only’ been 16 prosecutions and 12 convictions to date, there have been more than 100 police investigations that did not reach the court, “but which had devastating effects on individuals, their families and their communities” and suggested that this may also be the case in the other countries that currently prosecute HIV exposure or transmission. 

In the UK, new guidelines by the Crown Prosecution Service have clarified some of the uncertainties that have surrounded prosecutions for reckless HIV transmission, and, given the high threshold of evidence required it seems likely that prosecutions will become increasingly rare – in fact the last three attempts to prosecute reckless HIV transmission in England and Wales have failed.

In an attempt to counter the growing trend of criminalising HIV exposure and transmission, UNAIDS published a new policy brief that strongly argues against all prosecutions for HIV exposure or transmission, with the exception of “cases of intentional transmission”.  The paper states that, “there is no data indicating that the broad application of criminal law to HIV transmission will achieve either criminal justice or prevent HIV transmission. Rather, such application risks undermining public health and human rights.”  It suggests alternatives to criminal sanctions should be explored: “Instead of applying criminal law to HIV transmission, governments should expand programmes which have been proven to reduce HIV transmission while protecting the human rights both of people living with HIV and those who are HIV-negative”   Furthermore, UNAIDS suggest that governments “strengthen and enforce laws against rape (inside and outside marriage), and other forms of violence against women and children; improve the efficacy of criminal justice systems in investigating and prosecuting sexual offences against women and children, and support women’s equality and economic independence, including through concrete legislation, programmes and services.  

Source: aidsmap - Edwin J. Bernard, August 07, 2008