Get Help with HIV Criminalization

What YOU need to know

For people with HIV, a contentious relationship, a personal misunderstanding or even a minor infraction of the law can lead to a long jail sentence, public shaming and registration as a sex offender. HIV-specific criminal charges have been filed in the U.S. more than 1,500 times.

If you have been accused, DO NOT TALK to police or investigators

  • Do not acknowledge your HIV status (no matter how well-known your HIV+ status might be, just say you want a lawyer).
  • Do not provide blood, saliva or give permission for any medical tests.
  • Do not sign any documents.
  • Do not volunteer any information.

Tell them you want a lawyer and will not answer questions until you have one.

They may try to convince you things “will be easier” if you cooperate; this is rarely true.  Providing information before you have the help of a lawyer is NEVER to your advantage, even if you know you did nothing wrong.

Some people get convicted because they cooperated before they had a lawyer. Be polite, but absolutely do not talk, acknowledge, provide information or sign anything until you have a lawyer.

Find a Lawyer

You have and should exercise your right to remain silent until you have a lawyer. If you cannot afford one, the state must provide one for you. Finding a lawyer knowledgeable about HIV and criminalization can be difficult.

Contact your local public defender’s office, HIV legal clinic or service provider or reach out to the following agencies for a referral or other resources:

Sero Project: seroproject.com  or email us at info@seroproject.com, please include your phone number

Lambda Legal Defense: lambdalegal.org  Lambda’s website has “helpline” numbers for different parts of the country.

ACLU (to find your local ACLU chapter): aclu.org

Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (mostly focused in New England): glad.org

AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania (mostly in PA and NJ): aidslawproject.org

AIDS Law of Louisiana: aidslaw.org

Whitman-Walker Legal Services (Washington, DC): wwc.org

Duke AIDS Legal Project (North Carolina): www.aidslegalproject.org

Public Law Center (Southern California): www.publiclawcenter.org

Center for HIV Law & Policy:  www.hivlawandpolicy.org

Protect Yourself

It is awkward, but having proof that you disclosed your status to sex partners can help protect you from prosecution (but it is no guarantee). Possible strategies include:

  • Have your partner sign a disclosure acknowledgement form (see sample)
  • Save email, text exchanges, voicemail recordings, social media profiles or other evidence that you disclosed your HIV status (If arrested, your computer may be seized; save copies in a safe separate location)
  • Take your partner with you to your doctor or caseworker and ask them to note your partner’s knowledge of your HIV+ status in your file
  • Talk about your HIV+ status in front of your partner and a third party you trust who could testify that you disclosed
  • Make a video with your partner talking about your HIV status
  • Keep a diary noting occasions when you discussed your HIV status with your partner
  • Make note of physical evidence of your HIV status, like medications in clear sight, doctor visit reminders, printed HIV-related brochures or magazines, etc., that others have seen.