• Read the Report
  • Contact Us
Menu
  • Background
    • HIV and the Law
    • Commission Overview
    • Commissioners
    • Technical Advisory Group
  • Dialogues
    • Global Dialogue 2018
      • 2018 Supplement
      • Global Dialogue 2018 Videos
    • Global Dialogue 2012
      • Video
      • Photo Gallery
      • Speeches
    • Regional Dialogues
      • Asia-Pacific Regional Dialogue
      • Caribbean
      • Eastern Europe and Central Asia
      • Latin America
      • Africa
      • Middle East and North Africa
      • High Income Countries
      • Civil Society Participation
      • Submissions to the Regional Dialogues
  • Implementation
    • Programmes
      • Being LGBTI in Asia
      • Challenging stigma and discrimination in the Caribbean
      • Improving SRHR for young key populations in Southern Africa
      • Multi-Country Western Pacific Integrated HIV/TB Project
      • Promoting a rights-based response to HIV in Africa
      • Removing legal barriers in Africa
      • South Asia Global Fund HIV Programme
      • UHC Legal Solutions Network
    • Follow Up
      • Follow Up Stories
      • Legal Environment Assessments
      • Leave No One Behind: Lessons from the Global Commission on HIV and the Law for Agenda 2030
  • Resources
    • International Guidelines on Human Rights & Drug Policy
    • eLibrary
      • Capacity Development Toolkits
      • Fact Sheets
      • Legal Environment Assessments, Reviews and Audits
      • National Dialogue Reports
      • Policy and Issue Briefs
      • Research, Discussion Papers and Reports
    • Report Resources
      • Read the Report
      • 2018 Supplement
      • Working Papers
      • Submissions
      • Presentations
      • Articles and Speeches from Commissioners
      • Selected Bibliographies
    • Regional Dialogue Resources
      • Asia-Pacific
      • Caribbean
      • Latin America
      • Eastern Europe and Central Asia
      • Africa
      • High Income Countries
  • News
    • News Articles
    • Press Releases
    • Newsletter Archives
  • Past Events
News

Ten Facts about HIV Non-Disclosure Legislation in Canada

By katemcqdev

29/05/2015

Ten Facts about HIV Non-Disclosure Legislation in Canada

Published on Friday, 29 May 2015 15:45
The following facts were provided by the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network.

1. As of January 2014, approximately 155 individuals since 1989 have been criminally charged in Canada for not disclosing their HIV-positive status.

2. After only the United States, Canada has the worldwide highest number of arrests and prosecutions for HIV non-disclosure. Countries including Switzerland, Congo, Guinea, Togo, and Senegal have revised their HIV non-disclosure laws or adopted new legislation limiting the use of criminal law to exclusively cases of intentional transmission.

3. With the exception of a handful of prosecutions related to other sexually transmitted infections, prosecutions for non-disclosure in Canada have focused on HIV only.

4. The charge for non-disclosure is most often for aggravated sexual assault.

5. Since 1998, people living with HIV in Canada can be prosecuted for not disclosing their HIV-positive status before having sex that represents a significant risk of transmission, but the notion of significant risk is inconsistently interpreted.

6. Some people have been charged and convicted in HIV non-disclosure cases where, based on medical and scientific evidence, the sexual activity they engaged in did not pose a significant risk of transmission.

7. The estimated per-act risk of transmission from an HIV-positive woman to a male sexual partner through vaginal sex is 1 transmission in every 2,500 sexual encounters.

8. When an HIV-positive woman’s viral load is low, this risk drops to 1.3 expected transmissions in 10,000 sexual encounters.

9. When a condom is used, the per-act risk of transmission from an HIV-positive woman to a male sexual partner through vaginal sex is at most 1 in 12,500 sexual encounters.

10. Out of 14 women charged for HIV non-disclosure in Canada, 10 have been charged with aggravated sexual assault. The charge carries maximum penalty of life imprisonment and sexual offender registration, which can be detrimental to employment and housing access.  

Source: British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Recent Posts

  • People living with HIV in Kyrgyzstan have won the right to adopt
  • Legal and Policy Trends Impacting People Living with HIV and Key Populations in Asia and the Pacific 2014-2019
  • UNAIDS update: COVID-19 should not be a reason to delay 2030 deadline to end AIDS as a public health threat
  • 2020 Global HIV Policy Report: Policy Barriers to HIV Progress
  • UNAIDS hails new results showing that long-acting injectable medicines are highly effective in preventing HIV among women

© 2017 [blog-link], All Rights Reserved.