The criminalization of HIV transmission hampers prevention efforts.

-HIV NGOs consider that the climate of fear which leads to criminalization may deter get tested and know the HIV status

Barcelona, 2011-August the Supreme Court has sentenced to two years in prison and to pay compensation of 50,000 euros to a man of Madrid by transmitting the virus of human immunodeficiency (HIV) to her partner and daughter of both, despite using the condom in their sexual relations. Before this ruling, the Observatory of human rights of REDVIH and more than 50 organizations from across the State Spanish are pronounced with a consensus document in which consider that the criminalization of HIV transmission is counterproductive to the global epidemic and attentive response against human rights.

The document drafted at the beginning of this year considered that the climate of fear which leads to the criminalization of HIV transmission risk of stopping prevention efforts. On the one hand, can deter get tested and know the HIV status, and even generate distrust of health services. On the other hand, to carry the responsibility for the person living with HIV, there is the possibility of creating a false perception of security, forgetting that sexual health is a shared responsibility. In addition, the legal persecution of transmission strengthens the stereotype that people with HIV are dangerous phenomenon often multiplied by the media coverage ”.

Héctor Fortuny, representative of the REDVIH Observatory, expresses that except in cases of persons intending to do harm, the criminalization of HIV transmission does not help to curb the epidemic and instead worsen the current situation ”.

The only way to ensure the empowerment of the people to make healthy and responsible decisions is to ensure human rights. When the levels of stigma and discrimination are low in a society, conditions are more favourable for people are trained to perform the test, to apply preventive measures and to freely choose to disclose HIV status.

To this end, organisations adhering to the consensus document are agreed to demand that our Governments, with the community, working to protect the rights, changing attitudes of prejudice and meet the needs of the most affected groups (employees of migrant population, women, sex, men who have sex with men, people deprived of their liberty)(young) facilitating access to preventive methods of harm reduction, testing and care, all of whom tested. Likewise, we must appeal to the responsibility of the media and education from all fields (including the school) to promote human rights.

The criminalization of HIV transmission is not justified except in very unusual cases in which there is intentionality of harm and on which the generic laws already Act. There is no specific law that pursues the transmission in the Spanish State, however global judgments are arbitrary and selective and disproportionately affect people in more situations of vulnerability, as a matter of gender, sexual orientation, origin, or income.

The Observatory of human rights and HIV was established in 2003 as a project of the community network on HIV / AIDS of the Spanish State (REDVIH), with the goals of addressing HIV-related stigma and discrimination, visible cases of violation of rights and sensitizing the population on this situation. To this end, among other activities, this project funded by the National Plan of the AIDS of the Ministry of health and Social policy and the Ajuntament de Barcelona, offers free confidential legal advice service. Anyone who lives in Spain and consider that it has received discriminatory treatment related to HIV, can contact the service by phone: 607 733 411.