Canada may have gone farther than most countries in harsh treatment of HIV non-disclosure. What will the Supreme Court say?
Under Canadian law, a person living with HIV may be guilty of a crime [opens to PDF] for not disclosing his or her HIV-positive status before engaging in certain activities. Charges have been laid against people living with HIV in numerous cases, particularly cases involving sexual contact.
But a group called the Global Commission on HIV and the Law has taken the position that nondisclosure of HIV status, as well as sex work and possession of drugs for personal use, should all be decriminalized [Download the report in PDF].
To date, more than 130 out of more than 65,000 people living with HIV in Canada have been charged for not disclosing their status. This number is second only to the U.S., which has more than 1.2 million people living with HIV. If convicted, an HIV-positive person can face a lifetime in prison and be registered as a sexual offender. [Source: Toronto Star]
A Supreme Court of Canada decision on a related case is expected very soon.
We speak with Heidi Exner, manager of health promotion and community development at AIDS Vancouver Island.
