Ontario limits criminal prosecutions of HIV-positive people for non-disclosure
Science suggests the risk of transmission is basically negligible if those living with HIV are being treated or taking appropriate precautions
Ontario will no longer criminally prosecute HIV-positive people who don’t disclose their status to sexual partners if there is no realistic possibility of transmission, the province announced on Friday as it marked World AIDS Day.
The move comes as the federal government published a study saying that the bar for someone who doesn’t disclose their HIV status to be charged with a criminal offence needs to catch up to science.
The Justice Department study pulled together scientific evidence and the current prevalence of HIV in Canada and treatment, and stacked it up against the way the criminal justice system currently handles cases of people who don’t disclose their HIV status prior to engaging in sexual activity.
While there’s no law specifically related to it in the Criminal Code, non-disclosure can lead to assault or sexual assault charges, because it’s been found to invalidate a partner’s consent. Current wisdom suggests that if they knew a person had HIV, they wouldn’t consent to sexual activity because of the risk of transmission.
Science, however, suggests the risk of transmission is basically negligible if those living with HIV are being treated or taking appropriate precautions, the study concluded.
“It can, therefore, no longer be assumed that a person living with HIV in Canada is at risk of transmitting it.”
Ontario’s attorney general and health minister on Friday urged Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould to consider Criminal Code reforms to align with that evidence, something advocates have long been urging.
“The scientific conclusions reflect the growing body of evidence that shows that there is no realistic possibility of transmission of HIV if a person is on antiretroviral therapy and has maintained a suppressed viral load for six months,” Yasir Naqvi and Eric Hoskins wrote in a joint statement.
Ontario Crown attorneys will no longer proceed with criminal prosecutions against those individuals, they announced.
The Canadian Press
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