The 2010 Global Criminalisation Scan gives a global overview of the extent to which criminal and other laws have been used to prosecute people living with HIV for HIV transmission and exposure.

The full impact of these laws on the human rights of people living with HIV and on access to treatment, care and support has yet to be fully understood. However, the evidence presented here shows that there is no correlation between the HIV prevalence in a country and the willingness of countries to use criminal laws and other punitive measures to regulate transmission.

The report gives examples of instances where people living with HIV have expressed concerns about negative consequences that come from the overly broad use of laws in cases of transmission and exposure to HIV. This report highlights the urgent need for government reform and calls for the guided application of expert
evidence and legal opinion to stem the swell of prosecutions and to counter the false premise of the perceived benefit of HIV-specific criminal laws.

Download the full report here