Photo by Ocean DeRouchie of Laurel Sprague, Postdoctoral Fellow, HIV Justice Network
After the recent panel presentation 'The Movement to End HIV Criminalization' I was interviewed by journalist Ocean DeRouchie about my emerging dissertation research for Concordia University's The Link newspaper. Check out the full article here! After the panel, the newspaper also wrote a strongly worded editorial calling for the decriminalisation of HIV non-disclosure in Canadian law. The editorial and interview were also promoted by the HIV Justice Network.
Read some excerpts from the interview below:
"The situation begs the question: “Why is society responding in such a punitive way?” asked McClelland.
This isn’t to say that not disclosing one’s HIV status “doesn’t require some potential form of intervention,” he explained, adding that intervention could incorporate counselling, mental-health support, encouragement around building self-esteem and learning how to deal and live with the virus in the world. “But in engaging with the very blunt instrument that is the criminal law is the wrong approach.”
He continued to explain that the reality of the criminalization of HIV ultimately doesn’t do anything to prevent HIV transmission.
“It’s just ruining people’s lives,” said McClelland, who has been interviewing Canadians who have been affected by criminal charges due to HIV-related situations. “It’s a very complex social situation that requires a nuanced approach to support people.”
"In Quebec, there have been cases surrounding transmission and exposure. In 2013, Jacqueline Jacko, an HIV-positive woman, was sentenced to ten months in prison for spitting on a police officer—despite findings that confirm that the disease cannot be transmitted through saliva.
In this situation, Jacko had called for police assistance in removing an unwelcome person from her home. Aggression transpired between her and the officers, resulting in her arrest and eventually her spitting on them, according to Le Devoir.
“[This case] is so clearly based on AIDS-phobia, AIDS stigma and fear,” added McClelland, “and an example of how the police treat these situations and use HIV as a way to criminalize people.”
Police intervention is crucial in the fight against HIV criminalization. McClelland urged people to consider the consequences of involving the justice system in these kinds of situations.
“It’s important to understand that the current scientific reality for HIV is that it’s a chronic, manageable condition. When people take [antivirals] they are rendered non-infectious,” he said. “They should then understand that the fear is grounded in a kind of stigma and historical understanding of HIV that is no longer correct today.”
The first instinct, or notion of calling the police in an instance where one feels they may have been exposed to the virus in some way is “mostly grounded in fear and panic,” he said.
“[Police] respond in a really disproportionate, violent way towards people—so I would consider questioning, or at least thinking twice before calling the police,” McClelland explained.
On the other hand, he suggested approaching the situation in more conventional, educational and progressive methods"