This is Section 1 of Responding to the Criminalization of HIV Transmission or Exposure: Resources for lawyers and advocates. Access the full kit at aidslaw.ca/lawyers-kit.
Some lawyers and service providers have lots of experience with HIV, while others may not have as much. There are a lot of common misconceptions about HIV — and left unchecked, they can pose problems for your client, in and out of the courtroom. This section includes basic information about HIV, HIV transmission and treatment, the realities of living with HIV and the complexity of HIV related criminal cases.
HIV and its transmission
F. Barré-Sinoussi et al., Expert consensus statement on the science of HIV in the context of criminal law, Journal of the International AIDS Society, 2018, 21:e25161July 2018.
For more information on the science of HIV transmission, go to section 4.
HIV testing:
- CATIE, Detecting HIV earlier: Advances in HIV testing, 2013
Learning about HIV and living with HIV
- NAM, HIV Basics (see sections on HIV&AIDS, Testing, Treatment, Just diagnosed).
- Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, HIV Disclosure to Sexual Partners: An Overview, 2012.
- R. Hofman. “Why HIV Stigma is as deadly as the virus itself,” Poz Magazine, December 2009.
- Positive Women: Exposing Injustice, 2012 (free online documentary coproduced by the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and Goldëlox productions on the criminalization of HIV and its impact on women in Canada)
For information on the HIV epidemic globally, visit the UNAIDS website.
Lawyers discuss challenges of HIV non-disclosure, exposure and transmission cases
- Interview with Cynthia Fromstein, Canadian criminal defence lawyer, June 2010.