HIV - Gay Men's Crime and Punishment
posted: 26/01/2009
Sexually charged is the latest report on what gay and bisexual men think about criminal prosecutions for sexual HIV transmission. It finds strong evidence that HIV stigma is all pervasive among gay and bi-sexual men and this needs HIV prevention attention.
In recent years a number of people have been criminally prosecuted in the UK for the sexual transmission of HIV, yet little is known about how gay men and bisexual men feel about this.
In the annual Gay Men's Sex Survey, men were asked about their awareness and understanding of prosecutions (those results are in Sigma's report Multiple Chances). The men who did the annual Gay Men's Sex Survey onliine answered some extra questions on prosecutions.
Prosecutions shape attitudes and affect HIV prevention. Have prosecutions made things better or worse for gay men's HIV prevention?
More than 8,200 men said whether they agreed, disagreed or were not sure about prosecutions, and just over 6,700 went on to say why they felt that way. Sexually Charged presents a full analysis of the men's responses.
Blame and Jail majority
More than half (57%) of all respondents said yes, they think it is a good idea to imprison people who know they have HIV if they pass it to sexual partners who do not know they have it. About a quarter (26%) were unsure and the remainder (18%) thought it was not a good idea.
Diagnosed men disagree
Men diagnosed with HIV were much less likely to support prosecutions, most probably because they regard prosecution from the viewpoint of being a potential defendant. On the other hand, men who have never had an HIV test were most likely to agree with prosecutions.
The report ends by discussing how far the findings challenge the way in which we think about HIV prevention for gay and bisexual men, given the pervasive HIV-related stigma that emerged.
Prosecution Delusions
The majority of gay and bisexual men who do not have diagnosed HIV believe prosecutions for the transmission of HIV to be justified. Often this is based on serious misunderstandings.The biggest misunderstanding (in fact it is a delusion) is that the law provides negative and untested men with added protection from HIV in sexual interactions. Expecting to be told that the man you are about to have sex with has HIV, is a problem both because a third of people with HIV do not know they have it, and because many people who do know they have HIV will not tell sexual partners before sex. Expecting people with diagnosed HIV to disclose their status before sex result in the perception that if one is not told this, then the partner does not have HIV. This can clearly lead to misjudgements of sexual risk.
In the Gay Men’s Sex Survey 2006 three quarters (74%) of all men expected HIV positive disclosure from potential sex partners. This expectation was far more common among men under 20 (91%); men that had never tested for HIV (85%); men with lower levels of formal education (82%); and men with fewer male partners. Of all the needs of gay men and bisexual men described across all the GMSS surveys this is the most commonly unmet need.
Prevention updating
Prevention campaigns will have to ensure that no man now assumes that the law will protect him from HIV exposure or transmission, whether or not people think it should. The naivety with which some men approach sex is consolidated and exacerbated by the prosecutions.
Helping men who have limited experience of HIV to recognise that their sex life could unknown to them involve men living with HIV and providing these men with the knowledge and skills needed to maximise pleasure and minimise harm, remains the crucial role of HIV health promotion.
Stigma - Blame and Shame effect of prosecutions is stark
Another task in HIV health promotion is to deal with the stigma associated with HIV among gay men and bisexual men. Gay and bisexual men tend to stigmatise members of their own communities on the basis of known (or assumed) HIV infection.
What is shocking is how much the reality of living with HIV is misunderstood, and the strength of fear and loathing with which many undiagnosed and untested men characterise those of us with HIV is clearly evident in the findings. The way HIV is used by so many gay and bisexual men to divide the gay community continues to be the greatest challenge.
The research was funded by Terrence Higgins Trust as part of the CHAPS national HIV prevention programme for gay men and other men that have sex with men.
The report is available
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