April 17, 2024
By Madeline Collazo Maguire, Drexel University College of Medicine
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HIV is criminalized when people who are HIV positive can face criminal charges for engaging in acts not considered criminal if done by a person who is HIV negative. A recent example is Julie Graham, a nurse and HIV/AIDS activist who almost faced imprisonment, fines and job loss after an ex-partner claimed that she did not disclose her HIV status. The fact that her viral load was undetectable and the ex-partner did not become infected were beside the point. With the help of AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, her charges were expunged.
Despite almost a half-century's worth of research, HIV criminalization remains mostly unchanged. As of 2022, 35 states have laws that criminalize HIV exposure and to date, there is no evidence that these laws offered a public health benefit. However, agencies and community organizations around the nation are fighting to educate people and end HIV criminalization.
Catherine Hanssens, Esq., is the founder of the Center for HIV Law & Policy (CHLP), an organization aimed at ending stigma, discrimination, and violence towards people affected by HIV and other health conditions. Specifically, CHLP engages federal agencies to improve policies surrounding HIV; informs attorneys, advocates, policymakers and the general public on the latest developments in HIV policy; and supports community partners also involved in ending HIV criminalization. CHLP also advocates for sexual health care and literacy programs for youth in detention and foster care.
Hanssens is a graduate of Philadelphia’s Temple University and Northeastern University School of Law in Boston. While working as a public defender in New Jersey, she became acutely aware of the neglect and mistreatment of incarcerated people with HIV/AIDS. Among other groundbreaking cases, she litigated involuntary HIV testing in New Jersey and a class action challenge to segregation of prisoners with HIV in that same state. Hanssens then joined the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, creating one of the first medical-legal partnerships in the country before founding CHLP and serving as executive director for 16 years.
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