In upstate New York in 1997, an HIV-positive man named Nushawn Williams was accused of knowingly spreading the disease to 13 women and girls, some junior high-aged, and to three resulting babies. He was later convicted of statutory rape and reckless endangerment, and received a four to 12 year prison sentence. AIDS activists saw Williams as a mentally ill individual in denial, and believed he deserved compassion. But many more thought the law had been too lenient. Should transmitting HIV be a crime unto itself?
According to a new report from the International Planned Parenthood Federation, 58 countries worldwide have laws criminalizing the transmission of HIV, some of which apply even to people who don't know they have the disease. Most public health experts agree such laws push HIV-positive people underground and make them less likely to reveal their status or even get tested. Many of the laws were passed by West African nations after a U.S.-sponsored AIDS conference in 2005, apparently modeled after laws that exist in 32 American states, as well as in Canada and the U.K. Such laws are opposed by the United Nations, which recommends nations apply general criminal laws to cases of intentional transmission of the disease.
The U.N. position seems to make sense, especially in the United States, where we already have a full range of criminal law that encompasses knowingly putting another person in danger. And it is almost impossible to prove intent in most cases like this. Where is the line between denial and sadism?
--Dana Goldstein
