CHAMPing the Fight Against the Criminalization of HIV positive people in the U.S.

By Coco Jervis

This summer, people living with HIV faced a wave of criminal charges for activities with extremely limited or no risk of HIV transmission. Most notably, in May, a 42-year-old HIV positive man in Texas who spat at a police officer during an arrest received a cumulative sentence of 35 years by a Dallas court after a jury was convinced that the man had used his saliva as a "deadly weapon." More than 180 media outlets around the world picked up news of the case – but only a handful clarified the impossibility of contracting HIV by being spit on.

Since then, the media has reported on at least three similar situations around the country, and have framed the accused as maliciously trying to transmit HIV, even in situations where transmission was impossible. This spreads misinformation, threatening to undo decades of community education efforts. As part of a coordinated response, CHAMP drafted and circulated a sign-on letter directed to the CDC, urging them to adopt a proactive communications strategy to combat dangerously misleading information concerning the transmission of HIV that is currently being advanced as a result of criminal prosecutions of people living with HIV/AIDS.

Our sign-on letter and the efforts of our allies to combat the criminalization of HIV was discussed on our Strategy Lab call on October 15. On October 20, the final version of the letter was dent to Dr. Kevin Fenton, Director of the Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), endorsed by more than 200 organizations and almost 1,000 individuals. Dr. Fenton responded by indicating that he would initiate a "discussion with other senior leaders at the CDC about possible mechanisms for response and advocacy. " We await a formal response from the CDC addressing the recommendations and concerns raised.

Click here to read the sign-on letter.