Criminalization of HIV transmission: poor public health policy.
Criminalization of HIV transmission and exposure is an ineffective tool for combating AIDS and a costly distraction from programs that we know work--programs such as effective prevention, protection against discrimination, reducing stigma, empowering women and providing access to testing and treatment. In this article, which is based on a public lecture he gave at "From Evidence and Principle to Policy and Action," the 1st Annual Symposium on HIV, Law and Human Rights, held on 12-13 June 2009 in Toronto, Canada, Justice Edwin Cameron analyzes the surge in criminal prosecutions, discusses the role that stigma plays in these prosecutions and makes the case against criminalization.
Cameron
Edwin
E
Constitutional Court of South Africa. cameron.edwin@gmail.com
D003415:Crime; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000635:transmission*; D006291:Health Policy; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D011209:Power, Psychological; D011634:Public Health; D013240:Stereotyping