Protecting HIV-Positive Women’s Human Rights: Recommendations for the United States National HIV/AIDS Strategy

Posted: 4 Feb 2010 Last revised: 16 Sep 2013

See all articles by Aziza Ahmed

Aziza Ahmed

Boston University - School of Law

Catherine Hanssens

Center for HIV Law and Policy

Brook Kelly

The Women's Collective, New York

Date Written: November 1, 2009

Abstract

To bring the United States in line with prevailing human rights standards, its National HIV/AIDS Strategy will need to explicitly commit to a human rights framework when developing programmes and policies that serve the unaddressed needs of women. This paper focuses on two aspects of the institutionalized mistreatment of people with HIV: 1) the criminalization of their consensual sexual conduct; and 2) the elimination of informed and documented consensual participation in their diagnosis through reliance on mandatory and opt-out testing policies. More than half of US states have HIV-specific laws criminalizing the consensual sexual activity of people with HIV, regardless of whether transmission occurs. Many of these laws hinge prosecution on the failure of HIV-positive people to disclose their HIV status to a sexual partner. The Obama Administration should explore administrative and legislative incentives to eliminate these laws and prosecutions, and target a portion of prevention funding for anti-stigma training. Testing policies should be reconsidered to remove opt-out and/or mandatory HIV testing as a condition for receipt of federal funding; incentives should encourage states to adopt local policies mandating counseling; and voluntary HIV testing should be offered regardless of the provider's undocumented perception of an individual's risk.

Keywords: HIV/AIDS, women’s health, human rights, law and policy, criminalization, HIV testing and counselling, United States

Suggested Citation

Ahmed, Aziza and Hanssens, Catherine and Kelly, Brook, Protecting HIV-Positive Women’s Human Rights: Recommendations for the United States National HIV/AIDS Strategy (November 1, 2009). Reproductive Health Matters, Vol. 17, No. 34, pp. 127-134, November 2009, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1543801

Aziza Ahmed

Boston University - School of Law ( email )

765 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215
United States

Catherine Hanssens

Center for HIV Law and Policy ( email )

New York, NY
United States

Brook Kelly (Contact Author)

The Women's Collective, New York ( email )

Washington, DC
United States

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