Home      Resources     News

HIV Debate Resources

Watch Debate Video (37 minutes)

 

CREATE A DEBATE IN YOUR COMMUNITY!

Click here for a Glossary_of_Terms.pdf that will help you familiarize yourself with current debate language
What are the mechanics of a debate? How long do debates last?
Click here to learn the basic Overview of a Debate.pdf
Need some background material? We’ve done the research for you.
Read our  Resource_summaries.pdf
Want to know how to engage the media in a community debate? Develop partnerships with a local University? For all PR activity.pdf surrounding a debate read on.

 

Essential Reading

Legal Presentation at CATIE AGM October 2, 2008

PowerPoint presentation of the current status of the Canadian law and leading cases in the evolving jurisprudence on this issue. Prepared by Glenn Betteridge a lawyer, who has worked for the Canadian HIV Legal Network.

Presentation explains current status of the law. Analyses who has been charged and leading cases.

Full PowerPoint Presentation This is a large file - 2.76 MB - and is best saved to your computer for viewing.

---

Disclosure Resource Document – January 2003

Policy paper prepared for Ontario ‘s Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (OACHA) – examines some of the legal and ethical issues about counselling, disclosure and the barriers to disclose. The legal position is somewhat out of date in light of recent rulings.

Full Document (PDF)

---

Reducing HIV Transmission by People With HIV Who Are Unwilling or Unable to Take Appropriate Precautions

Prepared in 2002, it is not government policy, but analyzes the role of criminal law and public health.

Full Document (PDF)

 

Arguments AGAINST resolution ( it should be a crime)

---

 

UN-AIDS Policy Brief Criminalization

Very helpful reading that suggests states should be cautious in applying the law except in cases where there is intentional tranasmission.

Full Report (PDF)

---

HIV stigma radiates from behind the bench.doc

---

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT: IS THERE A ROLE FOR CRIMINAL LAW IN HIV PREVENTION POLICY?

Full Report (PDF)

---

SHOULD HIV BE JAILED? HIV CRIMINAL EXPOSURE STATUTES AND THEIR EFFECTS IN THE UNITED STATES AND SOUTH AFRICA (stein p.177)

Promoting normative behavior encourages individuals to act within the confines of the law because they believe it is the right thing to do. Deterrence attempts to discourage individuals from engaging in criminal activity by enforcing grave consequences for such behavior.

Full Report (PDF)

---

Grievous harm? Use of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 for
sexual transmission of HIV

1. U.K. position paper

In theoretical terms, the criminal law can be considered to serve a number of different social functions. However, there remains a considerable amount of debate about the extent to which these aims are met. Four commonly cited objectives of criminal sanctions are: incapacitation, rehabilitation, retribution and deterrence (R Elliott 2002). Imprisonment is said to incapacitate the offender, rendering him or her unable to harm others for the duration of imprisonment. It is also argued that a prison sentence can provide an opportunity to rehabilitate offenders, although the extent to which this occurs is questionable. A key justification for criminalising specific behaviours is retribution, relating to the notion that harmful or blameworthy behaviour deserves punishment. This is particularly salient in relation to the ‘victim’ who may desire to see a sentence passed that bears a particular weight in response to the crime committed. Further to this, it is argued that by setting out the criminal law and its penalties in relation to specific acts, most people will be deterred from engaging in such behaviour because of the risk of criminal conviction and sentencing that may ensue. Yet it is also argued that in circumstances where reasoning is outweighed by

Full Report (PDF)

---

Arguments FOR – resolution ( it should NOT be a crime)

---

 

UN-AIDS Policy Brief Criminalization

Very helpful reading that suggests states should be cautious in applying the law except in cases where there is intentional transmission.

Full Report (PDF)

---

Burris et al Do Criminal Laws Influence HIV Risk Behavior? - Arizona State Law Journal 2007

Although our findings, and those of others, leave us unconvinced that criminal law has a significant effect in reducing testing or increasing stigma, we still come down against the enactment of HIV-specific statutes or the widespread use of criminal law in cases of exposure. For one thing, the dubious possibility that criminal law is doing any good at all means that any possible harm in the coin of stigma, social marginalization or deferred testing is not worth paying. For another, we are concerned with the effect of criminalization on HIV policy-makers and policy making. Framing the problem of HIV prevention in terms of criminal law is paradoxical: it suggests both that behaving safely is primarily a matter of personal choice, and also that the state is right to and capable of telling people what to do in the bedroom. The day-to-day task of practicing safe sex is much like sticking to a diet or kicking a harmful, risky, but pleasurable habit like smoking or gambling. Individual choice is mediated by genetic, psychological and social factors. The state is generally unable to coerce the behavior it desires, at least without taking steps that undermine other basic values.

Full Report (PDF)

---

Dodds et al

Research analysis of the effects of how criminal law affects gay men and their behaviour – it concludes that you can’t correct problematic behaviour with a problematic response.

Full Report (PDF)

---

Second Opinion by Andre Picard. August 14, 2008, Globe & Mail opinion column Prevent and treat HIV, don't criminalize it, Andre Picard is a Globe and Mail columnist reports regularly on HIV issues from a social political perspective.

Full Article (PDF)

---

Criminal HIV cases do more harm than good, group warns
Tom Blackwell, National Post Published: Tuesday, January 13, 2009- review of pending murder trial, issues involved, public reaction and concerns of AIDS Activists.

Full Article (Word Doc)

---

The Johnson Aziga Case: HIV transmission should not be a crime, Dr. Mark Wainberg, December 1, 2008

Editorial written by Dr. Wainberg, one of Canada’s leading HIV researchers. Internationally acclaimed for his work.

Full Article (PDF)

---