Race and the criminalization of HIV non-disclosure in Ontario

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In 2010, the African and Caribbean Council on HIV/ AIDS in Ontario (ACCHO) commissioned a paper to assess the impact of the increasingly expansive use of criminal law with respect to HIV exposure on African, Caribbean and Black (ACB) communities in Ontario, and propose an effective community response. The paper was launched on December 1, 2010. METHODS: The development of the paper involved: a) a review of legal and sociological literature and media reports; b) an analysis of criminal charges for non-disclosure of HIV-positive status amongst members of ACB communities; and c) original qualitative research through key informant interviews and focus groups. DISCUSSION: The increasingly expansive use of the criminal law in response to instances of HIV exposure and non-disclosure is affecting ACB communities in Ontario. Amongst those charged, there is perception of an over-representation of Black heterosexual men, especially since 2004. The media coverage of prosecutions for HIV non-disclosure is perceived to be perpetuating stigma and discrimination against ACB people living with HIV/AIDS, and ACB communities more broadly. Anxiety and fear related to the possibility of charges or false allegations in relation to HIV non-disclosure run high. CONCLUSIONS: ASOs and community organizations working with ACB persons living with or affected by HIV need to develop greater understanding of the impacts of the criminalization of HIV non-disclosure on their clients and develop effective collective responses. Policymakers, researchers, service providers and community members are coming together to produce accessible tools for action and education, respond to media coverage, conduct further research and contribute to new guidelines and protocols in an effort to build a strategic, targeted and multi-sectoral response to the racialization of the criminalization of HIV non-disclosure in Ontario.