Grant: Doctoral Research Award: HIV/AIDS CBR Program - General Stream

In Canada, HIV positive people are increasingly charged criminally for not telling their HIV status to sexual partners. This is known as the criminalization of HIV non-disclosure. There is no evidence that this helps prevent the spread of HIV. In fact, people with HIV have been imprisoned even when they have used condoms or when there has been no HIV transmission. This punitive climate is driving people away from proven HIV prevention and support services. HIV is not what it once was. Treatments for HIV have dramatically improved quality of life and have made HIV very hard to transmit. But still today, HIV is a highly stigmatized disease. Telling people your HIV-positive status can result in discrimination and violence. Experts state that the complexities underlying HIV disclosure and prevention are not suited to a criminal law context. The recent Supreme Court of Canada decision reinforced a legal approach on this issue and has opened the door for further charges. Up until 2010 there have been 122 cases, with charges ranging from sexual assault to attempted murder. This project will ask the question: How has the experience of being charged in relation to HIV non-disclosure impacted peoples lives, and what are the implications for human rights and the HIV response? This Community Based Research project will interview up to 20 people who have been charged in relation to not disclosing their HIV status. Interview participants will include men and women from across Canada. This project will be conducted in partnership with Concordia University, Ontario Working Group on Criminal Law and HIV Exposure, Prisoners AIDS Support Action Network, and the HIV and AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario. There has been no study of the experiences of people in Canada who faced these charges firsthand. This research will offer new insight to help understand the personal, social and human rights implications of this practice to help inform responses and alternatives.