As one woman put it, “I didn’t know if I was screwed, not screwed, or still screwed.”
October 5, 2012, was a day of media confusion. The Supreme Court had issued its decision on the circumstances under which people with HIV must legally disclose their HIV-positive status to sexual partners. Based on news reports, it wasn’t clear if the law was the same, had gotten better, or had turned for the worse.
Several media outlets got it wrong, indicating the law had been loosened. Even Canada’s paper of record, the Globe and Mail, said, “The new legal standard means that a partner’s failure to disclose is no longer always a crime.”
In fact, before the latest court ruling, it had not always been a crime not to disclose. And the new legal standard created by the Supreme Court has actually broadened the reach of the criminal law when it comes to HIV non-disclosure.
What this means for women with HIV is complicated.