HIV Criminalization Legal and Policy Assessment Tool

HIV criminalization laws and policies increase stigma, exacerbate disparities, and may discourage HIV testing.  Current scientific and medical evidence should inform state laws and practices that criminalize actions by people with HIV. States should consider updating or repealing outdated laws and practices. This HIV Criminalization Legal and Policy tool was developed to assist states’ decisionmakers in assessing their HIV criminalization laws alignment with current scientific and medical evidence, and their intersection with HIV data privacy laws.

The tool enables an objective assessment of a jurisdiction’s laws, regulations, and executive orders that control HIV surveillance and prevention. The tool can also help identify opportunities to strengthen legal and policy protections for people with HIV — protections that are also likely to benefit public health more broadly—by aligning them with evidence-based best practices.