‘It takes two to tango’: HIV non-disclosure and the neutralization of victimhood*

Abstract

There is a rich and fulsome literature on victims and the processes by which certain groups or individuals come to be constructed as victims. Less attention has been paid to the rhetorical moves employed as counter strategies by groups who seek to challenge victim status and the use of the ‘victim’ label for particular groups. Using the debates around the criminalization of HIV non-disclosure as a case study, the aim of this paper is to contribute towards a better understanding of efforts to deny or neutralize victimhood. The paper identifies several strategies utilized by individuals and groups, the object of which is to raise questions about the appropriateness of a criminal response to HIV non-disclosure by constructing those who have had intimate encounters with HIV non-disclosers as equally responsible for their circumstances rather than as victims of non-disclosers.