The Impact of HIV Criminalization Laws and Stigma: Why Medically Accurate Education Matters
The stigma is strong with this thread 😳
Yesterday morning, I came across this thread about HIV disclosure. It quickly went off the rails, so be warned if you want to scroll through it.
In this scenario, a nanny was fired by the family for failing to disclose her positive HIV status. The poster was friends with the family and asking for opinions on HIV disclosure for similar situations.
Despite all of the BS, misinformation, and judgement in the responses, I was happy to see others taking initiative, confronting stigma, and working to educate — so that’s a positive!
I’ve talked about the problems with STI criminalization and variances in HIV laws across the country (I’ll repost to my stories). While there are laws in place to protect health information, like someone’s HIV status, these laws vary by location and circumstance.
As of now..
❌ 34 states criminalize actions taken by people with HIV through HIV and/or STI specific laws
❌14 states criminalize actions that have a “negligible or low risk of transmitting HIV”
❌13 states require people with HIV who are aware of their status to disclose to their partners
❌ 14 states have maximum sentence lengths of more than 10 years to life (in some states)
❌4 states require mandated disclosure to those who share needles
❌ 10 states provide defenses for taking measures to reduce and prevent transmission (barriers, PrEP)
Late in 2023, the CDC shared that “after more than 40 years of HIV research and significant biomedical advancements to treat and prevent HIV, most HIV criminalization laws do not reflect scientific and medical evidence.”
Most laws were enacted before antiretroviral therapy and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). (CDC, 2023)
Just when I think we’ve made progress related to stigma, I’m quickly humbled by situations like these.
If we had better education - or should I say, medically accurate education - including access to that education, we could better alleviate stigma and get folks the support, care, and decency they deserve.
#publichealth #publichealthmatters #healtheducator#hivawareness
Source: CDC (2023). HIV Criminalization and Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S.