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Who? What? Where? When? And with What Consequences? An Analysis of Criminal Cases of HIV Non-disclosure in Canada1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2013

Eric Mykhalovskiy  and
Glenn Betteridge
Eric Mykhalovskiy
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, York University, 4700 Keele St. Toronto, ON M3J 1P3,E-mail: ericm@yorku.ca
Glenn Betteridge
Affiliation:
Jonathan Glenn Betteridge Legal & Policy Consulting
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Abstract

The use of criminal-law powers to respond to people with HIV who place others at risk of HIV infection has emerged as a focal point of AIDS advocacy at global, national, and local levels. In the Canadian context, reform efforts that address the criminalization of HIV non-disclosure have been hampered by the absence of data on the contours, scale, and outcomes of criminalization. This article responds to that gap in knowledge with the first comprehensive analysis of the temporal trends, demographic patterns, and aggregate outcomes of Canadian criminal cases of HIV non-disclosure. The authors draw on insights into the role that rendering social phenomena in numerical terms plays for the governance of social life in order to make criminalization “visible” in ways that might contribute to activist responses. The article examines temporal trends, demographic patterns, and outcomes separately. In each instance, the pattern or trend identified is described, potential explanations for findings are offered, and an account is given of how the data have informed efforts to reform criminal law. Particular attention is paid to the following key findings: a sharp increase in criminal cases that began in 2004; the large proportion of recent criminal cases involving defendants who are heterosexual Black, African, and Caribbean men; and the high proportion of criminal cases resulting in conviction. The article closes with suggestions for future research.

Résumé

Le recours aux pouvoirs du droit pénal en vue de prendre des mesures à l'égard des personnes qui ont contracté le VIH et qui présentent un risque de transmission de ce virus à d'autres est devenu un élément central de l'activisme en ce qui a trait au sida, tant aux niveaux international, national que local. Dans le contexte canadien, les efforts de réforme visant à traiter la criminalisation de la non-divulgation de la séropositivité au VIH ont été ralentis par l'absence de données sur les profils, l'échelle et les effets de la criminalisation. Cet article vise à corriger une telle lacune en matière de connaissances grâce à la toute première analyse exhaustive des tendances temporelles, des modèles démographiques et de l'ensemble des résultats d'affaires criminelles canadiennes en matière de non-divulgation de la séropositivité au VIH. Cet article s'inspire de points de vue à propos du rôle que joue la représentation d'un phénomène social en termes numériques pour la gouvernance de la vie sociale, afin de rendre «visible» la criminalisation par des moyens qui pourraient contribuer aux mesures activistes. Cet article examine les tendances temporelles, les modèles démographiques et les résultats séparément. Pour chaque cas, nous décrivons la tendance ou le modèle que nous avons identifié, nous proposons d'éventuelles explications par rapport aux conclusions, et donnons un compte rendu de la façon dont les données ont servi de base aux efforts de réforme en matière de droit pénal. Une attention toute particulière est accordée aux principales conclusions suivantes: augmentation considérable des affaires criminelles depuis 2004; grande proportion d'affaires criminelles récentes incluant des défendeurs qui sont des hétérosexuels de race noire, des Africains et des hommes des Caraïbes; et importante proportion d'affaires criminelles aboutissant à une condamnation. L'article se termine par des suggestions en vue de recherches à venir.

Keywords

HIV non-disclosurecriminal lawCanadatrendspatternsnon-divulgation du VIHaffaires criminellesCanadatendancesmodèles
Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Law and Society / La Revue Canadienne Droit et Société , Volume 27 , Issue 1 , April 2012 , pp. 31 - 53
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Law and Society Association 2012

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References

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21 We defined as an HIV non-disclosure case any circumstance in which one or more Criminal Code charges were laid by police against a person based on alleged HIV nondisclosure in the context of sexual activity. We excluded situations in which police charged an HIV-positive person with assault—including sexual assault and aggravated sexual assault—when force, violence, or coercion was used to obtain sex. We also excluded criminal cases involving charges for biting or spitting. We treated as separate cases charges that were prosecuted in separate proceedings, either at the trial stage or on appeal. In 66 cases, defendants faced two or more criminal charges related to HIV non-disclosure.

22 Since at least 1989, the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network has been tracking HIV non-disclosure criminal prosecutions in Canada, drawing on a variety of sources: media clipping services (including FPinfomart.ca); Internet and hand searches of media reporting; electronic searches of legal databases (LexisNexis, Quicklaw, and CanLii); and information passed on by HIV/AIDS organizations, community members, and lawyers.

23 Eight individuals were each involved in two criminal cases.

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30 Mykhalovskiy and Sanders, “‘There Is No Excuse.’”

31 Our analysis focuses on men because the number of women (11) prosecuted from 1989 to 2010 does not lend itself to the identification of trends and patterns. Of course, the impact of criminalization on HIV-positive women is not a simple function of the number of cases involving female defendants; it is also important to recognize gender differences in the experience of criminalization based on such factors as degrees of social marginalization and power dynamics in interpersonal relationships. For a discussion see Allard, P., Kazatchkine, C., and Symington, A., “Criminal Prosecutions for HIV Non-disclosure: Protecting Women from Infection or Threatening Prevention Efforts?” in Women and HIV Prevention in Canada: The Past, the Present and the Future—Implications for Research, Policy and Practice, ed. Gahagan, J. (Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press, forthcoming)Google Scholar.

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43 An examination of Toronto Star coverage (March 1990–July 2010) found that 64% (134/208) of news stories on criminal HIV non-disclosure cases focused on cases involving Black male defendants. E. Mykhalovskiy, unpublished data.

44 Wortley, “Hidden Intersections.”

45 The outcome data from 1989 to the end of 2010 represent the information we had at the time of writing, which may not reflect the final outcome of a case. We treated cases as “unknown” when we were aware of charges' being laid but were unable to obtain any information about the outcome(s) as of the time of writing.

46 Mykhalovskiy et al., HIV Non-disclosure and the Criminal Law.

47 Grant, I., “The Prosecution of HIV Non-disclosure in Canada: Time to Rethink Cuerrier” McGill Journal of Law and Health 5, 1 (2011): 7–59Google Scholar.

48 Burris and Cameron, “The Case against Criminalization.”