HIV criminalisation case against HIV-positive gay men dropped, however consequences could deter people from testing in future.
Prosecution lawyers in Czech Republic have dropped a case against 30 HIV-positive gay men.
The men had been accused of having unprotected sex and spreading HIV which is a criminal offence in the Czech Republic.
All the men had acquired a new sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the last year and Czech public health officials used this as evidence to show that the men had participated in condom-less sex.
Under Czech law, people living with HIV can be persecuted for “spread of infectious diseases” by having unprotected sex, including oral sex.
The case, was brought against the men in January, despite no complainants, nor any evidence of HIV transmission.
It also seems that there was no attempt to understand if any of the men were on effective treatment with undetectable viral loads, or if they practiced sero-sorting – only having unprotected sex with other HIV-positive men.
The fact that condoms aren’t 100% effective against certain STIs, such as syphilis, which many of the men had contracted was ignored.
Last week the case was finally dropped due to a lack of evidence.
Jakub Tomšej, a lawyer with the Czech AIDS Help Society, said: “There’s absolutely no evidence, there are no victims, we believe the only consequence of this kind of investigation is that HIV-positive people who get another STI will simply avoid doctors.”
The rationale behind laws criminalising HIV transmission is to deter what many believe to be morally unacceptable behaviour through fear of punishment.
However, a wealth of evidence worldwide, shows that HIV criminalisation does not work as a public health strategy. Such laws undermine efforts to prevent and treat HIV because they discourage people from getting tested.
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