Greece: Matthew Weait on the moral panic over the mass arrest of female sex workers with HIV

Matthew Weait, Professor of Law and Policy at Birkbeck College, University of London guest blogs on Wednesday's arrest of 17 HIV-positive women who allegedly worked illegally as sex workers.  Greek authorities are accusing them of intentionally causing serious bodily harm. 
 
The arrest in Athens of 17 female sex workers living with HIV this week is outrageous on many levels. It is not that a significant number of them have had their right to respect for private life violated (12 had their photographs published on a police website), nor that there is uncertainty as to whether the women concerned knew their HIV status, nor that the women were arrested after a screening process by the Greek Centre for Disease Control (how voluntary was that, I wonder?), nor that they have been charged with intentionally causing grievous bodily harm (a charge almost impossible to prove, and on the facts arising simply from having unprotected sex with clients – according to news reports it is unclear whether any clients have actually been infected as a result of sex with the women concerned). All these things are bad enough, but what is really appalling is the way in which it is the women who have been identified as the legitimate locus of control and the subject of punitive state response.

It is appalling, but it is entirely to be expected. There is a long and ignoble tradition of locating the source of STIs in women in general, and female sex workers in particular. In the context of HIV criminalization this tradition has reached a new peak (or, perhaps better, a new trough). Put simply, HIV criminalization has compounded, and added a new and frightening dimension to, the longstanding idea that female sex workers are a source of pollution threatening the cleanliness of men. It is not just that by identifying them as the risk and the cause of any harm men may suffer, the men concerned (and men in general) are able to divert attention from their own responsibility (though this is important), it is that criminalization has provided an opportunity, in this context, to reinforce the idea that women are inherently dirty, that HIV is dirty, and that cleansing (what a frightening word that is) through punishment, containment and deportation (the women in Athens were foreign nationals) is a reasonable and justifiable response.

Of this logic we should be very afraid. The elimination of dirt at a political level has found expression, at its most extreme, in the slaughter of the Jews by the Nazis, in the apartheid regime of South Africa, in eugenic science and rules relating to miscegenation. It is evident in any attempt by a society to maintain its ‘purity’ by imposing border controls that require would-be immigrants to undergo tests that filter out the sick and unhealthy.

At an individual level, the elimination or exclusion of dirt – or rather the practices, attitudes and response mechanisms that attempt to achieve this (prosecution, imprisonment, deportation) mirror a wider political project in which the HIV positive body is punished, marginalised and devalued because it represents everything that is feared in post-modernity. The HIV positive body is a paradigm site for repressive legal and political response because of its capacity to reproduce itself in the body of those for whom it represents a threat to physical and ontological security, and because that reproduction occurs – and can only occur – through the merging of bodies via the co-mingling of their ‘inside’. Elizabeth Grosz, an Australian feminist theorist has put this better than anyone else when she explains that:

Body fluids attest to the permeability of the body, its necessary dependence on an outside, its liability to collapse into this outside (this is what death implies), to the perilous divisions between the body’s inside and its outside. They affront a subject’s aspiration toward autonomy and self-identity. They attest to a certain irreducible ‘dirt’ or ‘disgust’, a horror of the unknown or the unspecifiable that permeates, lingers, and at times leaks out of the body, a testimony to the fraudulence or impossibility of the ‘clean’ and ‘proper’. (Grosz, 1994: 193-4)

For Grosz, it is women’s bodies, their unstable and destabilizing corporeality, that serve both to affirm men’s belief in their own inviolability and, thus, the bounded body (i.e. male bodies) as the normal, universal and legitimate form of subjectivity. The seminal flows that emit from male bodies, reduced to a by-product of sexual pleasure rather than conceived as a manifestation of immanent materiality, and as something that is directed, linear and non-reciprocal, enables men to sustain the fantasy of the closed body and of the possibility of control over it. The socio-cultural and psychological dimension of Mackinnon’s (in)famous assertion about the power necessarily instantiated in heterosexual relations (‘Man fucks woman: subject verb object’ (Mackinnon, 1982: 541), this fantasy is a prerequisite for the maintenance of masculinity, and of the mastery – over women, over nature – that masculinity enables, or which is its prerogative.

To receive flow, or to be in position where there is a risk of flow in the other direction, is to be identified with the feminine (whether as woman, or as passive homosexual) and to lose the phallic advantage; to acknowledge the essential materiality of the body, that its flows are not merely by-products of the body but constitutive of it, is an admission that strikes at the heart of masculinity, at the security which is its privilege, and at the legitimacy of the hierarchised and gendered socio-economic order upon which its privileged status depends. Understood in these terms, it is unsurprising that it is women’s bodies (despite the relatively low risk of female to male sexual transmission) that are – within the discourse that frames the heterosexual HIV epidemic– characterised as the source of infection. As Grosz explains, this discourse is one that makes

… women, in line with the conventions and practices associated with contraceptive procedures, the guardians of the sexual fluids of both men and women. Men seem to refuse to believe that their body fluids are the ‘contaminants’. It must be women who are the contaminants. Yet, paradoxically, the distinction between a ‘clean’ woman and an ‘unclean’ one does not come from any presumption about the inherent polluting properties of the self-enclosure of female sexuality, as one might presume, but is a function of the quantity, and to a lesser extent the quality, of the men she has already been with. So she is in fact regarded as a kind of sponge or conduit of other men’s ‘dirt’. (Grosz, 1994: 197)

 Given Grosz’s analysis it is hardly unsurprising that the Centre for Disease Control in Greece had 1500 calls from concerned men once the story about the brothels broke. Far from accepting any responsibility they might have for having sex which carried the risk of STI and HIV infection, it was entirely to be expected that their concern was whether the women might have infected them, and that the legal response was to round up the women. Patriarchy is, after all, a Greek word.

The response of the Greek health Minister, Andreas Leverdos, prompted in part by a massive rise in HIV infections in Greece in recent months (954 new infections were reported in 2011, a 57 percent increase from the previous year), and also – surely – by the political value in deporting non-nationals at a time when Greece is in economic meltdown, was to suggest criminalizing unprotected sex in brothels. He is reported as saying,

 Let’s make this a crime. It’s not all the fault of the illegally procured woman, it’s 50 percent her fault and 50 percent that of the client, perhaps more because he is paying the money. 

On the face of it this response suggests some recognition of shared responsibility. However, it is a pipe-dream – I suggest – to imagine that doing this (even if it were politically viable, which I doubt) would have the effect of eradicating the deeply entrenched view that female sex workers are to blame for their clients ills; nor is criminalization of sexual behaviour that carries the risk of HIV infection a productive or constructive answer to anything. It would simply perpetuate the idea that punitive laws are an appropriate response to what is properly understood as a public health issue that should be addressed through wider awareness, education and an affirmation of the importance of taking care of, and respecting, ourselves and others.

(Reposted from Matthew Weait's own blog, 'The Times That Belong To Us' with kind permission. You can also follow Matthew on Twitter @ProfWetpaint)

South Korea: Court refuses arrest warrant for teenage sex worker alleged to have exposed 20 men without disclosure

A 19 year-old female sex worker from the southern port of Busan was picked up by South Korean police last week after her father alleged she had unprotected sex with up to 20 male clients since testing HIV-positive in February.

However, according to an AFP report in The Straits Times

the court in Busan rejected a request from police to issue an arrest warrant for the woman, saying she should instead be sent to hospital for treatment.

A second report, from Asiaone.com notes that the young woman

reportedly said she suggested using contraceptives but her male partners refused to do so.

Of note, South Korea has no HIV-specific criminal laws.

In 2009 a 26-year-old HIV-positive man became the first person prosecuted under the country's public health laws for having unprotected sex without first disclosing his HIV status. The man reportedly had sex with at least ten women. He received an 18-month prison sentence. The case occasioned calls for tougher laws for such conduct.

China: Woman accused of intentionally infecting 30 men (update)

Update: 19th October

News sources from China, including this English-language report from China Daily, say that this story was an elaborate hoax perpetrated by the woman's disguntled ex-boyfriend.

An illicit blog that has swept the Internet and claims to tell the story of an "HIV-infected prostitute" is a sick hoax by an angry ex-boyfriend, police said yesterday. The post, which featured 300 indecent pictures of [the woman], along with 279 cell phone numbers of "former clients", emerged last week and rapidly spread across the nation's Web portals. The post claims the 30-year-old was raped by her stepfather at 15 and had become a waitress at karaoke bars in Beijing, and that the cell numbers were published in revenge against society. However, police in Yan's native Rongcheng county, Hebei province, told China Daily yesterday that the blog had been written by the woman's ex-lover - a married man from Beijing.

The suspect, whose name has not been released, had demanded 5,000 yuan ($730) from [the woman] when they split up but she refused, said a local police officer who declined to be named. The man later told police the woman's brother had attacked him, the officer said. The suspect then returned to the capital and, using the cell numbers he had received at the Rongcheng county police station, began to send indecent pictures of Yan to several officers via SMS. "We have kept those text messages and we will sue him for smearing our reputation," said the officer, whose number was one of those listed on the blog.

Another news report, published in Chinese, says that the woman was tested for HIV by the public health authorities and intial results are that she is, in fact HIV-negative.


Original post: 18th October

A South Korean news website has run a story from their Beijing correspondent alleging that TV stations and other media in China are reporting that a former female sex worker in China is under suspicion of intentionally trying to infect hundreds of male sex partners with HIV and that at least 30 of these men are HIV-positive.

I was alerted to the story by a blog reader, a law professor in South Korea, who points out that since South Korea has created a climate of fear and misinformation around HIV in the country, which has policies that blame foreigners for bringing and 'spreading' HIV in the country, and, have targeted non-Korean national English language teachers in particular, the reporting may well be inaccurate or biased.

The reader has found no other reports about the case, and certainly none have appeared in the English language. Although the report cannot be verified, I do know that in 2006 the Chinese government announced that China was going to start to prosecute individuals "who know they are infected with AIDS or are sick with AIDS and deliberately infect" others.

The report, on nate.com (fuzzy English Google translation version here) claims that the Chinese woman (who is named and pictured in the report) intentionally tried to infect several hundred men in several cities in China by having sex with them and not disclosing her HIV status. She allegedly had the phone numbers of 279 men on her cellphone, which the report suggests is proof enough that she slept with all of them.

It also claims that she admitted on her blog that she slept with men indiscriminately in order to get 'revenge' for having become HIV-positive herself and that her life was so awful she didn't care what happened to her. A relative tells the paper that she was raped by her stepfather when she was 15, and after she ran away from home she became a sex worker in order to survive.

It notes that Chinese society has been shocked by these reports, although it is unclear whether she has been arrested or charged with any crime, since it states that she is currently staying with friends in Beijing.

US: 'It's Criminal', says POZ magazine; my HIV exposure round-up proves it is!

The October issue of POZ magazine is just out, and their cover story is about the criminalisation of HIV non-disclosure.

It's a timely reminder that the US prosecutes more HIV-positive individuals than any other country in the world. They go after us not only for allegedly not disclosing our HIV status before sex but also for just being HIV-positive and having sex or doing other things that are so low on the scale of HIV transmission risks that criminal law involvement becomes a stigmatising over-reaction.

In fact, over the summer months I've been so overwhelmed with news reports of prosecutions from the States, that I've had something of a backlog. So, here's a summary of what's been happening in August and September.

• August 14th: In Ocala, Florida, a 39 year-old woman was arrested for not disclosing her HIV status. The complainant was a 58 year-old man who had sex with her once, according to Ocala.com.
• August 21st: In Palm Beach, Florida a 32 year-old woman was arrested for "committing prostitution while HIV-positive, a third-degree felony which can result in up to five years in prison", according to The Palm Beach Post.
• August 27th: In Oklahoma City, a 40 year-old man was arrested following a complaint from another man for not disclosing his HIV status before oral sex. He was charged with "knowingly engaging in conduct reasonably likely to transfer HIV", according to newsOK.com.
• September 3rd: In Memphis, Tennessee, a burglary suspect was charged with criminal HIV exposure after he "he spit blood in the officer’s face and said that he was HIV-positive" during his arrest, according to myeyewitnessnews.com.
• September 11th: In Florence, South Carolina, a 35 year-old was arrested for HIV exposure after a complainant went to police (sex of both individuals unknown). "A person who violates this law is guilty of a felony, and upon conviction, can be fined up to $5,000 or serve up to 10 years in jail," according to WMBFnews.com.
• September 11th: In Dayton, Ohio a 25 year-old "male prostitute is facing felony soliciting and prostitution charges after he was picked up by an undercover cop working as part of a prostitution sting," reports the Dayton Daily News. His name, face and HIV status was also published.
  
• September 17th: In Fort Smith, Arkansas, a 33 year-old man "charged with knowingly exposing a person to HIV is also the lone suspect in a 2002 homicide in North Carolina", reports the Times Record. The 2002 murder allegedly took place after the female victim discovered the man's HIV status and threatened charges.
• September 21st: In Mattoon, Illinois a 42 year-old man faces HIV exposure charges after a 19 year-old woman complained to police that "he engaged in sex with her, knowing he was HIV positive", reports the Journal-Gazette Times-Courier.
  

Admittedly, the Arkansas case does warrant some criminal justice system investigation (if only to finally prove or disprove these 2002 allegations). It is also the only one where the complainant is acually HIV-positive. I have a feeling we'll be hearing a lot more about this case if and when it goes to trial!

Back to the POZ piece. Page 1 features an overview of US laws; why POZ believes they are wrong and out-of-date; and what HIV-positive individuals can do to protect themselves from prosecution.

If you can get a person to indicate that you have made it perfectly clear that you have HIV, and do so in front of a witness, such proof of disclosure may hold up in court. But unfortunately, many states do not define what constitutes “informed consent.”

[...]

Of course, it is also a good idea to use a condom. While not a legal defense in some states, condoms reduce the risk of spreading HIV. Historically, fewer people have been prosecuted for nondisclosure prior to sex when a condom was used.

Most important, the HIV community must lobby local, state and federal government officials and lawmakers to rewrite (or better yet, abolish) the laws that criminalize HIV transmission. Contact your mayor, your congress people, your state senators and their staff. Educate them about HIV risks and transmission, and hold their feet to the fire to ensure that all people living with HIV are not unfairly punished.

Page 2 features "comments posted on POZ.com by readers in response to various news stories and opinion pieces on the subject of criminalizing people living with HIV."

Page 3 has an excellent interview by Regan Hoffman with Catherine Hanssens, executive director of The Center for HIV Law and Policy. Highlights include:

"It’s hard to think of any disease or context in which someone would be put away for 20 years for what is basically an act of consensual sex where no one has been harmed. But the reporting in the mainstream press [about these cases] is informed by huge misunderstandings about how HIV is transmitted and a lot of ignorance about whom HIV affects and what drives the epidemic."

"The things that you would want to do to protect yourself and your partner are not necessarily the things that are going to be rewarded in the courtroom. There is a disincentive to disclose because proof is a difficult thing."

"Disclosure is not the equivalent of latex... The thing that stops transmission is latex, not words."

"The notion that we need a whole other set of standards and separate laws [to prosecute the nondisclosure of HIV] reveals that it’s not the intent to harm that results in a lot of prosecutions, but rather the ignorance about how transmissible HIV is and a revulsion for people who are affected by HIV."

Couldn't have said it better myself!

Sweden: Alleged rapist accuses HIV-positive woman of non-disclosure

An HIV-positive woman from Helsingborg, Sweden who was allegedly raped by a man last month has been accused of not disclosing her HIV status, according to a rather confusing report in the Helsingborgs Dagblad.

Two versions of events were presented to the police following the man's arrest. Both agree that the woman and the man, both aged 37, took a taxi together.

The woman claims he lured her up to his apartment to give her his share of the money for the taxi fare, and then forced her to have sex. She says that she asked him to use a condom during the assault, but he did not do so.

He claims that he was drunk and sexually excited and believed she was a sex worker. He says he paid her the 3000 Swedish krona (£250) for the sex and told the police that the reason she pressed charges against him was that she wanted to save her reputation.

Unfortunately Google translate doesn't do a great job of translating some of the detail of the piece: if anyone reads Swedish and can add to this story, please add a comment.

US: Michigan strip club employee pleads 'no contest' to HIV non-disclosure (updated)

The 23 year-old Michigan woman named and shamed following her arrest along with five other employees of the Escape Reality strip club in May, has pleaded 'no-contest' to "one count of engaging in a sex act without informing her partner of her positive HIV status." Her real crimes were dealing drugs, but it is her HIV status that makes her so much more of a criminal in the State of Michigan's eyes.

There's definitely something very fishy about this case, which highlights how the police, courts and media conspire to make HIV-positive people appear to be far more dangerous to society than we actually are.

Orginally, the woman was charged with "three counts of engaging in sexual penetration without advising the partner that she has been diagnosed as being HIV positive" each of which can result in "up to four years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000."

However, according to the South Bend Tribune the woman entered into a plea agreement that meant the mother of three faced lesser charges and "an 18-month cap on jail time".

As well as pleading 'no contest' to one count of engaging in an act of sexual penetration while failing to inform her partner she was HIV-positive, she pleaded guilty to four drug-related charges and one charge of "engaging in lewd and lascivious conduct."

Other drug charges were dropped under the plea agreement, as were two other counts of failure to inform partners of her HIV.

The article goes on to say that she and another woman "both performed sex acts on a confidential informant at the club."

However, the evidence presented to the court, via testimony from Detective Sgt. Dave Toxopeus, "a Dowagiac police officer working with the Cass County Sheriff Office's Narcotics Unit" does not support this statement. He actually testified that the confidential informant

told him she... provided him with lap dances during which she exposed private body parts and would stop just short of offering him the opportunity to engage in a sex act.

Let's just take a look at Michigan's HIV-specific law

“Sexual penetration” means sexual intercourse, cunnilingus, fellatio, anal intercourse, or any other intrusion, however slight, of any part of a person's body or of any object into the genital or anal openings of another person's body; emission of semen is not required.

Given the incredibly wide range of ways to break this stupid, discriminatory and out-of-date law, and the testimony that they didn't actually engage in a sex act, I'm guessing that, perhaps, she allowed the confidential informant to place his finger (or tongue?) on her clitoris or something equally as benign. She certainly didn't appear to do anything that risked the transmission of HIV. (And didn't he have a responsibility to protect himself anyway if he had gone 'all the way'?)

And although the police had engaged in a fishing expedition by naming the woman, and asking for "anyone with information related to this case" there appear to have been no further evidence that the woman had exposed anyone to HIV. Instead, she is treated like a pariah because of her HIV status.

A second report, from the Niles Daily Star, which erroneously states that the woman pleaded guilty to "five sex-related convictions" adds some drama to the court scene

[She] admitted she did not inform her male partners at the club that she was HIV-positive. She cried as she sat at the bench before Judge Michael Dodge and pleaded guilty to charges as follows: 1.) conspiracy to deliver or manufacture methamphetamine or ecstasy; 2.) delivery or manufacturing of methamphetamine or ecstasy; 3.) conspiracy to deliver or manufacture cocaine less than 50 grams; 4.) delivery or manufacturing cocaine less than 50 grams; and 5.) lewd and lascivious conduct.

The woman will be sentenced on Friday August 7th.

Update: September 22nd. She received a rather strange sentence - a mimum of 16 months but a maximum of 20 years, according to The Niles Daily Star.

Judge Michael Dodge sentenced Melissa Goodman, 24, of Elkhart, Ind. saying she had a plea agreement of 18 months. He told her she would have gone to prison for 30 months but with the sentence bargain the court could accept it or reject it.

He told her that her cooperation and Assistant Prosecutor Diab Rizk’s agreement of 16 months, the court will deviate from her guideline range. That was 30 to 50 months. Other related counts were dropped of the April 22 offense at the strip joint at Pleasant Lake, 68502 Dailey Road.

Rizik said Goodman performed serious actions and jeopardized a number of individuals. But she did agree to cooperate with criminal investigations. He said the prosecutor’s office believed 16 months was appropriate.

Defense attorney Dale Blunier said he appreciated the recommendations of the prosecutor and noted Goodman has no prior record. He said she is a 24-year-old single mother and was trying to support her children.

“She cares about her children and knows what she did was wrong. She does have HIV,” he said. She has changed her life and wants to finish her education and go to college to improve herself. Her children were taken away, and she is trying to get them back. He said she may be eligible for boot camp.

Goodman apologized to the public.

US: Tennessee woman charged with "aggravated prostitution", unusually sympathetic reporting

An unusually sympathetic report of the case of a 28 year-old female sex worker from Knoxville, Tennessee, who faces between three and 15 years in prison for being an HIV-positive sex worker, was published today in the local paper, the Knoxville News Sentinel.

The report is probably the most balanced reporting I have ever seen of a case of this type, and the reporter, JJ Stambaugh, is to be congratulated on his report.

[The woman] differs from most of the 525 other known prostitutes arrested in Knox County over the past five years in one significant way: she is HIV-positive. [Her] medical condition means that when she turns tricks for a living she's committing a felony called aggravated prostitution. Women without HIV face misdemeanor prostitution charges that often add up to no more than probation and a fine. [She] is a repeat offender, having been convicted twice of being an HIV-infected prostitute before she was arrested a third time early this year, records show. Despite the fact that she's never been accused of any type of sexual assault, her criminal history already means she must register as a sex offender under state law and follow many of the same restrictions as rapists and child molesters.

Through court records, the article details the woman's difficult upbringing, her drug addiction, her mental health issues, and her previous arrests for prostitution.

She was discharged from prison the second time last November. Her most recent arrest for aggravated prostitution came April 10, when she was picked up on Magnolia Avenue during an undercover sting that netted eight other streetwalkers and their customers. She has since been held at the Knox County Detention Facility, unable to make her $15,000 bond, jail records show.

In addition to a history of homelessness, she has also been diagnosed with a neurological disorder and mental problems that include "flashbacks of being raped while working the streets," according to her pre-sentence report.

The article then highlights why, despite its intentions to protect the public health, using the criminal law in this way may not be in the best interests of the community.

The state law that classifies women such as [the accused] as sexual predators is - in the eyes of one defense attorney who has represented several women charged with the crime - just another way of hurting the true victims of abuse.

"I understand there is a public policy to control the spread of HIV, but I'm not sure that accelerating prostitution to a felony charge and meting out more severe punishment is the way to deal with the crisis," said Julie Auer Gautreau of the Knox County District Public Defender's Office. "I think it's inherently unfair to treat sick people, mentally ill people and drug addicts as criminals who are intent on endangering the public, because that's not what they're trying to do.

"It may be that they, in effect, present a kind of public danger, but in the case of every prostitute I've ever represented, you are dealing with somebody who is deeply troubled, who has suffered for years, and whose addiction ... is the result of some kind of abuse or mental illness or addiction."

Knoxville Police Department Sgt. Chris Baldwin said the aggravated prostitution law is a necessary tool for protecting public health.

"If you are aware that you have a disease or condition that could endanger the health of others, it's no less in my opinion than pointing a weapon at somebody," Baldwin said. "When a customer is exposed, then everybody he comes into contact with - including innocent third parties like his family - are at risk at well.

"What you're doing is putting another human being in danger, not just their moral but their physical well-being."

Baldwin agrees that many prostitutes are in dire need of drug treatment or psychological help, but stressed that the risks to public health are urgent when a hooker becomes infected with HIV.

As a sex offender, Moore can't take part in some residential drug treatment programs available to other addicts because she's not allowed to live at any place that also houses juveniles, records show.

"Ideally, our position is that prostitutes would be arrested and go to some kind of treatment or rehabilitation, but that very rarely happens," he said. "We have to focus on it from the law enforcement perspective. That's what we're tasked with."

Finally, the article also suggests that prosecutions of HIV-positive sex workers for "aggravated prostitution" appear to be selective.

[She] is one of 39 women in Tennessee who are on the state's Sex Offender Registry because they have been convicted of aggravated prostitution, according to Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Kristin Helm. She is one of only two women in Knox County to have actually been convicted thus far of the charge, although the Knox County Health Department says at least 10 HIV-infected local women are known prostitutes.

US: Louisiana sex worker 'railroaded' with "attempted intentional exposure" charge following prostitution arrest

A 39-year-old male sex worker has been charged under Louisiana's HIV exposure law for not disclosing his HIV status to an undercover cop prior to his arrest for prostitution.

The details of the case, from the dailycomet.com, read like something out of a Kafka short story. The charge is "attempted intentional exposure". He is being charged with not telling a prospective client that he was HIV-positive whilst propositioning him. That assumes that the sex worker would not have disclosed later, or - far more importantly - used a condom.

Rather more worryingly, "attempted intentional exposure" does not appear to be a crime.

The story not only includes the sex worker's full name, but also his address. It works as a 'fishing expedition' for potential complainants.

Deputies are also unsure whether he spread the disease to others before his arrest. “He’s known for quite sometime he was a carrier,” Stewart said. “If someone comes forward, we will investigate it further.”

If someone does come forward, he will be charged with "intentional exposure to AIDS", which, in Louisiana, means not disclosing one's HIV status before having any kind of contact with someone - and that includes biting or spitting. The actual wording is "...through sexual contact or through any means or contact". A 1993 appeal found that the statute was neither too vague nor too broad and it has not been challenged since. The law, then, is an open invitation to discriminate against anyone with HIV in the state. And so, if you happen to be an HIV-positive sex worker who doesn't advertise your HIV status whilst touting for business and you are unlucky enough to be touting that business to an undercover cop who was planning to arrest you anyway, you are an easy target.

The arrest took place in small city of Houma, Louisiana. The sex worker, already targeted as one of the 13 other individuals for a city-wide prostitution and drug bust, had allegedly propositioned the undercover cop before his arrest.

After initiating a conversation with the male deputy, [the accused] allegedly began discussing price and method of payment for sex, Stewart said. He did not mention having HIV, [Major Darryl Stewart of the Narcotics Task Force] said. “He did not make any comments at the time of our operation,” Stewart said. “If it hadn’t been an undercover (deputy) involved in that operation, it could have been someone else.”

[The accused] was one of 13 arrested during the operation, which targeted west-Houma neighborhoods, Stewart said. Deputies checked whether those arrested had HIV or AIDS, as is common after such a bust, Stewart said. “We want to make sure with people out there involved in drug use and prostitution,” Stewart said. “We believe people need to be aware of the different possibilities that can happen.”

The sex worker – and the police – had discovered his HIV-positive status following a prior prostitution arrest. The report says it is unclear whether the HIV test had been voluntary.

[The accused] learned he had HIV during a health screening after a prior arrest, Stewart said. Inmates record their medical history when admitted to the parish jail, but an HIV test is not routinely performed, said Maj. LeeRoy Lirette, the warden. A test can be given at the inmate’s expense if he requests it. Lirette said he is unsure whether Duplantis requested an HIV test during a prior incarceration.

The man is currently serving six months in prison for the prostitution offence. He would face up to ten years hard labour if found guilty of "intentional exposure to AIDS" - it's unclear what the sentence might be for "attempted intentional exposure."

Cambodia: Goverment plans to train police to 'promote 100% condom use' for sex workers

Cambodia's Ministry of Interior plans to train "thousands" of police officers to "promote 100% condom use" for sex workers in Banteay Meanchey province.

However, according to a report in The Phnom Penh Post, this policy is a major conflict of interest, since prostitution is illegal.

The success of the effort, however, could be derailed by a major obstacle: Article 24 of the Law on the Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation, passed in February 2008, which criminalises sex work and has forced the Kingdom's sex workers away from brothels and into karaoke bars and beer gardens.

Sara Bradford, technical adviser for the Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers in Cambodia, told the paper:

"First of all, it's completely unethical," she said, referring to the use of law enforcement officers as HIV/AIDS educators. "They go in, round up the girls, and people who round up the girls can't be the ones to go in and educate them."

"What we have to do is to transform our officers to become ... educators who can teach others about HIV/AIDS," the vice chairman of the National AIDS Authority, Tia Phalla told the paper, adding that 50,000 police officers throughout Cambodia have now been educated about condom use.

US: Michigan dancer charged with HIV exposure

A woman working in a Kalamazoo strip club, somewhat ironically named Escape Reality, was arraigned earlier this week and charged under Michigan's HIV-specific law with "three counts of engaging in sexual penetration without advising the partner that she has been diagnosed as being HIV positive."

According to the brief story in the Kalamazoo Gazette:

All three HIV-related incidents are alleged to have occurred inside the business between Feb. 11 and April 15. Each HIV-related count carries with it a penalty of up to four years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.

The story then asks "anyone with information related to this case" to call the police.

The woman was one of six Escape Reality employees arrested last week and accused of prostitution and drug delivery; the club is now padlocked pending an order to close it down for a year.

Canada: Ontario woman pleads guilty, gets four years in prison

A former sex worker from Kitchener, Ontario been sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to criminal negligence causing bodily harm and sexual assault.

Lara Dick, who tested positive in 2006, was originally charged with aggravated sexual assault.

The male complainant was a former client who ended up having a relationship with her, according to the report in The Record.com.

Court heard the man met her on the street in Cambridge in January 2008 and hired her as a prostitute. They had sex twice and the third time, he asked her for a coffee. They developed a relationship and the man ended up helping her get off the street. They were living together at the Knights Inn in Kitchener when he found out she was HIV positive. The man learned Dick had the virus after his dog knocked over her purse and a letter from the public health unit fell out, court heard. The letter mentioned her obligation to inform any sexual partners of her HIV status. She also has Hepatitis C.

[...]

Dick has 41 months of her sentence left to serve after the usual double credit for her time in pretrial custody is taken into account.

Of note, she was pregnant when she met the male complainant, who tested HIV-positive last year. According to the report: "The baby did not contract the virus because Dick took drugs to prevent it."

Canada: Googling results in HIV exposure arrest

A former male sex worker who helped other young men get off the Toronto streets, and whose life and work was highlighted in a CBC Radio documentary, has been arrested and charged with aggravated sexual assault (for HIV exposure) after a former male sexual partner searched for his name on the internet and discovered he was HIV-positive.

According to reports in the Toronto Sun and Hamilton Spectator, it is alleged that the man had not disclosed his HIV status prior to unprotected sex, although the complainant is not HIV-positive.

He was arrested last week in Nova Scotia, and returned to Hamilton, Ontario – where Johnson Aziga is currently on trial – where he was charged with aggravated sexual assault and released on bail last Thursday.

Hamilton police are now actively fishing for more complainants; they are asking anyone who had sex with the man since 2003 (when he was diagnosed) to contact them. Both papers have provided plenty of information to help the police with this extremely unethical request, which is disguised as a public health message.

Hamilton Police sexual assault branch Det. Duncan McCulloch is urging anyone who had relations with [xxxx], who lived in Toronto until 2008, to get checked to determine if they had been exposed.
McCulloch stressed anyone who had intimate contact with the suspect to undergo medical tests.
"Go to a doctor. Let me make that absolutely clear," he said. "Get yourself checked first and if they want to make a complaint, I'll certainly be the fellow to do whatever it needs to do the investigation.
"If it's outside my jurisdiction, I'll get them to who they need to be," he said.
McCulloch can be reached at xxx-xxxx-xxx.
"I believe it to be very serious," McCulloch said. "Anyone who may have had intimate contact with [....] could have been exposed to HIV and may not know it."

Nigeria: Man who drugged and stole from sex workers claims he intented to infect them with HIV as revenge

A Nigerian man who drugged, kidnapped and stole from female sex workers, told the court during his sentencing that his intention was to "spread HIV/AIDS" in revenge for becoming infected by a sex worker.

The Nigerian Daily Sun seems more concerned about the details of the articles stolen from the sex workers than anything else, and also, rather unethically, prints the names and addresses of his victims.

The man was sentenced to five years in prison, although his intention to infect the women with HIV did not appear to play a role in his sentencing.

Wicked mission
Convict confesses embarking on ‘operation spread HIV/AIDS’
By MATTHEW DIKE
September 13, 2008

It is no longer news that Ifeanyi Okafor, the 26-year-old man who drugged harlots, had sex with them before carting away their money and other valuables, had bagged a five-year jail term. What is new is that the man said his intention in embarking on his evil plan was to spread HIV/AIDS.

Before Okafor was sentenced, Okafor, he told the Magistrate, at the Apapa Court 6, Lagos, that his going from one hotel to the other, was to spread HIV/AIDS he got from a prostitute. According to him, he was on a revenge mission.

Okafor, who stood trial on a five-count charge, pleaded guilty to all the charges. Each charge attracted one-year jail term.

The Magistrate, Mrs. K.O. Doja-Ojo, did not waste any time in sending the accused to prison after reading out the charges against him.

The first count charge read: “That you, Ifeanyi Okafor,‘male’ on the 28th day of July, 2008 at White Castle Hotel, Apapa, in the Apapa Magisterial District, did drug one [X], ‘female’ of [X] Street, Apapa, and stole her two GSM handsets, one gold chain,one wristwatch and N6,000, all valued at N130,000 and thereby, committed an offence punishable under Section 390 (9) of the original Code Cap 17 Vol. 2 law of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2003.

The second charge was that on July 16, 2008, at Doris Hotel, Apapa, the accused drugged one [X] and stole her pendant, gold chain and Nokia GSM phone.

Count three was that Okafor drugged [X] of [X], Olodi-Apapa, Lagos and dispossessed the victim of Nokia handset, gold chain, gold necklace and cash of N2,000, all valued at N140,000.

In count five, the suspect was accused of escaping from lawful custody, thereby, committed an offence punishable under Section 135 (A) of the Criminal Code, Cap 17 Vol. 2 laws of Lagos State of Nigeria 2003.

A victim, [X], told the court how the accused went to her room at Doris Hotel, Apapa, Lagos, on July 4, 2008, and stole her three GSM handsets, two wristwatches, two necklaces and N6, 000, all valued at N24, 000.

Another victims, Elizabeth, told Saturday Sun that the accused had drugged and stole her money before locking her up in the hotel room. The accused allegedly escaped with the keys, while the lady was a prisoner for three days, falling become unconscious, before the hotel management broke the door and revived her.

Australia: HIV-positive sex worker gets 2 1/2 months jail for being an HIV-positive sex worker

The HIV-positive male sex worker previously named and shamed by the Canberra Public Health Department has been sentenced to two months and two weeks in prison for being an HIV-positive sex worker, acccording to a report from ABC News online.

Interestingly, Canberra's daily newspaper, The Canberra Times, appears to be on the side of the sex worker in its coverage of the case.

HIV sex worker jailed
ABC News online
15th September 2008

A Canberra man who worked as a prostitute while infected with HIV and hepatitis C has been sentenced to less than three months in jail.

Hector Scott, 42, pleaded guilty to operating a commercial sexual service from his Kingston flat last year while knowingly being infected with HIV.

As a public health measure, the ACT health department contacted nearly 500 people known to Scott.

Forty-three of them admitted to having a sexual encounter with him and were urged to be tested for HIV.

Magistrate John Burns said it was impossible to know whether Scott had unprotected sex with any of his clients.

But he said Scott's breach of the prostitution act was very serious because he chose to put others at risk for his own commercial benefit.

Magistrate Burns sentenced him to two months and 14 days in jail and a two year good behaviour order.

Outrage over HIV-positive prostitute's sentence
The Canberra Times
15/09/2008

A jail term handed down to an HIV-positive prostitute in Canberra sends a "disgraceful" message that having sex with an infected person is unsafe, Australia's peak sex workers association says.

The Scarlet Alliance has hit out after a judge's decision today to sentence a male sex worker to two-and-a-half months in prison for providing a commercial sexual service while knowing he was infected with a sexually transmitted disease.

Hector Scott, 41, from Kingston, was charged under section 25 of the ACT's Prostitution Control Act which makes the behaviour illegal.

Scarlet Alliance chief executive Janelle Fawkes said the organisation was "appalled" by the decision, saying she was extremely concerned at the possible repercussions after this kind of message.

"Last week, the ACT attorney-general, Simon Corbell, came out and stated that Section 25 should be reviewed and considering current risk in transmission that, in fact, an HIV positive person being a sex worker does not hold a higher risk for the community," Ms Fawkes said.

"But this week, we have a judge in the ACT making an example of a person who was only being a sex worker whilst HIV-positive.

"That sends a clear and cutting message that having sex with an HIV-positive person is unsafe and that is simply not true."

The same activity in NSW and several other states would not be deemed illegal, Ms Fawkes said.

The charge carries a maximum penalty of six months imprisonment, but Scott was sentenced to two months and 14 days.

He also pleaded guilty to failing to register as a sex worker, for which he received a two-year good behaviour bond.

Australia: HIV-positive sex worker pleads guilty; NAPWA comments on stigmatising handling of case

The HIV-positive male sex worker named and shamed by Canberra health officials last week has pleaded guilty to providing a commercial sexual service while knowing he was infected with a sexually-transmitted infection (i.e. HIV) and failing to register as a sex worker.

The story is widely reported in the Australasian press, primarily via a report from the AAP.

The report says that it is illegal, under Australian Capital Territory (ACT) laws, to provide or receive commercial sexual services if the person knows, or could reasonably be expected to know, that he or she is infected with an STI. It is also illegal to work as a prostitute in the ACT without being part of a brothel or escort agency which is registered with the Office of Regulatory Services.

The man is expected to be sentenced on March 20th.

Australia's National Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS (NAPWA) have strongly criticised the way Canberra's public health officials handled the case, according to a report in Australia's national gay and lesbian paper, SX, reports:

“The appropriate public health approach has not been followed in the case of Mr Hector Scott; instead he’s been subjected to trial by media … It appears ACT Health has panicked and bypassed the significant public health interventions at its disposal, choosing instead to refer this case to the police. This is not helpful … it perpetuates stigma against people with HIV, and it discourages people at risk of HIV from testing and treatment.”

NAPWA also slammed the decision by the ACT chief health officer to release personal details about the accused to the media. “For a government agency to release personal and confidential information in this way has been a great shock and affront to many of us … It is dangerous to the individual, dangerous to those who are by implication connected to his alleged activities, and dangerous for anyone living with HIV to see human rights and personal dignities trampled over in this way.”

Azerbaijan: 18 year-old girl accused of HIV transmission; UNICEF 'alarmed'

Two reports from Azerbaijan news agencies are highlighting the case of 18-year-old Elnara Ahmadova, who faces sentencing tomorrow for 'deliberate' HIV transmission. The reports are somewhat confusing, but suggest that Elnara was diagnosed five years ago, and is/was a sex worker from an early age.

UNICEF has issued a statement which says it is "alarmed by the fact that the girl who is a victim of human trafficking, prostitution and pornography is being treated as a criminal.”

This report is from the Azeri-Press Agency.

Court to deliver sentence on case of Elnara Ahmadova accused of deliberately infecting 200 people with HIV in Azerbaijan

05 Feb 2008 17:30

On 6 February Nasimi district court will deliver a sentence on the case of an 18-year-old HIV-infected girl Elnara Ahmadova, facing criminal charges of deliberately infecting 200 people with the HIV. The court told APA that the trial will be held in the second half of the day.

Elnara Ahmadova faced charges under Article 140.1 (deliberately infecting a person with the HIV) of the Criminal Code. The person facing these charges may be punished by correctional labour up to two years, restriction of freedom up to two years, or imprisonment up to one year.

UNICEF Azerbaijan Country Office issued a statement concerning the trial of Elnara Ahmadova. “UNICEF is concerned that the girl child affected by the situations of sale, prostitution and pornography continued to be treated not as a victim, but as a perpetrator without any special protection. It is also regretful that the circumstances in which the minor girl was involved in prostitution could not be clarified,” the statement says.

UNICEF believes that children alleged to have committed crimes while they were children should be considered primarily as victims of adults who have broken international law by recruiting and using children in sexual exploitation in the first place, and that these children must be provided with assistance for their social reintegration.

“If in contact with a justice system, persons under 18 at the time of the alleged offense must be treated in accordance with international juvenile justice standards which provide them with special protection. UNICEF calls for making all efforts to ensure the human rights and dignity of the girl victim and provide her with every opportunity available for rehabilitation and protection against all kinds of discrimination and stigmatization,” the statement says.

This shorter report is from Trend News Agency.

UNICEF Alarmed by Conviction of Azerbaijani AIDS Carrier Girl
05.02.08 18:14

Azerbaijan, Baku, 5 February / Т corr F. Rzayev / The International organization UNICEF expressed its concern over the conviction of an Azerbaijani girl Elnara Ahmadova, 18, who is accused of deliberating spreading the HIV/AIDS infection.

“UNICEF is alarmed by the fact that the girl who is a victim of human trafficking, prostitution and pornography is being treated as a criminal,” the organization reported on 5 February.

On 6 February, the Nasimi District Court in Baku will voice a verdict on the case of Ahmadova, who is accused of contravening Article 140.1 of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan (deliberately endangering others through HIV infection).

In 2003, Ahmadova was registered at the AIDS Centre. She was detained in July and accused of infecting over 100 men, mainly between 20-25 years old.

Australia: Canberra public health officials name (and shame) HIV-positive male sex worker

Public health officials in Canberra have taken the unusual step of holding a press conference to announce that a male sex worker who was charged with "knowingly" transmitting an (unnamed) sexually transmitted infection earlier this month is HIV-positive.

It is unclear from the reports whether the 41 year-old man is, in fact, charged with criminal HIV exposure or transmission; rather, the Canberra health department is appealing for former clients to come forward, even though they already have a list of 250 phone numbers obtained from the man, which they said they would be calling after the press conference.

"It is a very unusual step to take to mention the diagnosis of this kind in the interest of privacy but we will be calling people this afternoon and discussing this diagnosis with them so we know that it will be in the public domain today so therefore I'll share that with you," ACT Chief Health Officer Charles Guest told the press conference.

Of the two news reports online so far, ABC News online's also includes a photo of the man.

To me, this kind of 'contact tracing' – where an HIV-positive individual is named and his picture publicised – seems more like a 'fishing expedition' than an ethical public health measure.

These are the reports from The Herald Sun and ABC News online.

Sex worker exposes 250 to HIV

HEALTH officials are trying to contact 250 people who may have been exposed to HIV by a sex worker.

Hector Scott, 41, of Kingston appeared in ACT Magistrates Court earlier this month charged with knowingly infecting someone with a sexually transmitted disease and failing to register as a sex worker.

At the time, the details of the disease were not known.

ACT Chief Health Officer Charles Guest said today Mr Scott had Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).

"It is a very unusual step to take to mention the diagnosis of this kind in the interest of privacy but we will be calling people this afternoon and discussing this diagnosis with them so we know that it will be in the public domain today so therefore I'll share that with you," Dr Guest said at a press conference.

"HIV positive since 1999"

The health department first became aware of Mr Scott's actions on December 20 last year when notified by another jurisdiction. The department alerted police within 24 hours.

But Mr Scott was not issued with a public health order - to stop working as a prostitute - until January 4, when he was arrested.

Dr Guest said there was evidence Mr Scott had been HIV positive for some years, possibly since 1999.

During 2007 he advertised himself as a prostitute in Canberra media using the names "Adam" and "Josh" but was unregistered as a sex worker.

Could be less

"Bear in mind please 250 is just the number of phone numbers and he may have been phoning family friends, businesses - there are all sorts of other reasons," Dr Guest said.

"That may be a very inflated figure of the number of people that he had sex with or unprotected sex with."

Dr Guest would not say how the contacts were obtained and said many of the phone numbers being used were mobiles so it was unclear whether all of the potential victims were from the ACT.

"We will be exploring that nature of their contact very delicately with them - we have skilled counsellors and clinicians involved in this process," he said.

Counselling

The people contacted will be invited to be counselled and tested for sexually-transmitted infections.

Dr Guest said the whole situation was just a reminder of the importance of safe sex.

"There is a general message here about safe sex and entering into casual sexual relationships - assume that safe sex, protection, use of condoms is essential."

Mr Scott is due to reappear in the ACT Magistrates Court for a mention on February 7.

Charged sex worker has HIV: ACT Health

ACT Health has confirmed Canberra sex worker Hector Scott has HIV.

The 41-year-old from Kingston faced court earlier this month charged with knowingly transmitting a sexually transmitted disease and failing to register as a sex worker.

It is believed Scott may have contracted the disease in 1999.

Authorities have a list of 250 phone numbers of people who may have been in contact with the sex worker, but they say not all are at risk.

ACT Chief Health Officer Doctor Charles Guest says counsellors have started calling people on the list after receiving very few calls to a helpline it set up.

"The extraordinary effort that we're taking to communicate with people who may have been in contact with the sex worker has led us now to start calling people and advising them to be tested and explaining what the consequences of the testing would be," he said.

ACT Health has notified other states and territory authorities to help track down Scott's interstate clients.

New Zealand police have also joined the investigation after Scott spent a week there over Christmas.

Anyone who may have had contact with the man, who advertised under the names Adam and Josh, is urged to call the hotline on xxx xxxx xxx.

Scott is due back in court next month.