HIV criminalisation - increases transmission 2

Last week I touched on the reasons why criminalisation of HIV is disadvantageous to women. Today, I will just wrap up on how criminalisation of HIV causes more harm than good.

6. Women are more likely to be prosecuted:
Since women are more likely to know their HIV status, they are also more likely to be prosecuted for HIV exposure and transmission, since knowledge of one’s HIV positive status is often a necessary element for prosecution. At the same time, women are least likely to have access to legal services and, thus, a fair trial. The burden of proof and the biased application of the law further increase women’s risks of being charged, prosecuted and found ‘guilty’ of HIV exposure or transmission.

7. Some women might be prosecuted for mother-to-child transmission:
Some laws criminalizing HIV transmission or exposure are drafted broadly enough to include transmission during pregnancy or breastfeeding. For millions of women, living with HIV – but often denied access to family planning, reproductive health services, or medicines that prevent perinatal transmission of HIV – this effectively makes pregnancy, intended or not, a criminal offense. Further, it is increasingly recognized that in many middle and low-income settings, breastfeeding is the best option for child survival and well-being, despite the possibility of HIV transmission. There are many more effective ways to prevent perinatal transmission of HIV, beginning with supporting the rights of all women to make informed decisions about pregnancy and providing them with sexual and reproductive information and services; preventing HIV in women and girls in the first place; preventing unwanted pregnancies among all women; and providing effective medication and healthcare services to prevent perinatal transmission for HIV positive women, who wish to have children, or who are pregnant.

8. Women will be more vulnerable to HIV transmission:
Existing barriers limiting women’s access to information, resources and services, including gender inequalities and inequities, will be compounded by the fear of prosecution for HIV exposure or transmission. The gendered access to health information and services, combined with the fear of being criminalized for exposing or transmitting HIV to someone, will place women in an even lesser position of power to negotiate conditions of sex, as negotiating condom use may be perceived as ‘proof’ of knowledge of an HIV positive diagnosis.

9. The most ‘vulnerable and marginalized’ women will be most affected:
‘Vulnerable and marginalized’ women, such as women in same-sex relationships, and women sex workers and drug users, often lack adequate access to HIV prevention, testing, treatment, care, and support services, primarily as a result of their existing ‘criminalized’ status. The criminalization of HIV exposure and transmission is likely to further stigmatize already ‘criminalized’ women and to constitute yet another barrier to healthcare and other services by posing a threat of double prosecution – prosecution for engaging in ‘criminal behavior’ and for HIV exposure or transmission.

10. Human rights responses to HIV are most effective:
Now, more than ever, greater attention to human rights is needed in the response to the global HIV epidemic. Criminalizing HIV exposure and transmission compromises human rights, undermines public health initiatives, and increases especially women’s risks and vulnerabilities.