10 August 2008
As Uganda prepares to come up with a law that criminalises the transmission of HIV, such a move has generated concern among HIV/Aids experts, programme implementers, and activists.
The parliamentary committee on HIV/Aids is coming up with a law to punish people who deliberately infect others. President Museveni has since advised that culprits be condemned to death by hanging.
This trend, which is increasingly being witnessed in a number of African countries, took centre stage at several sessions and poster discussions at the just ended 17th International Aids Conference in Mexico City.
In one of the sessions, it was argued that while proponents of such laws claim the laws will especially benefit women, instead the latter will be heavily affected.
During her presentation on August 6, Ms Michaela Clayton of the Aids and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa asked: "Is this what women really want?"
According to a paper she co-authored with others, 61 percent of HIV-positive individuals in sub-Saharan Africa are women and that women often get to know their HIV status before their husbands as a result of ante-natal screening.
She said that women are then often blamed for "bringing HIV home" and they consequently feel unable to disclose their HIV status to their partners due to fear of physical harm and expulsion from their marital homes.
Clayton suggested that these laws may deter women from accessing HIV testing and services aimed at preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
"Criminalisation is bad public policy," she said. "Jurisdictions should not adopt criminalisation policies and those that have already done so should reverse course."
At present, countries such as Benin, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Togo and Sierra Leone have passed HIV criminalisation laws and others that are proposing similar laws include Angola, DR Congo, Malawi, Madagascar, and Tanzania.
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I do not agree,in the most part,justifying illicit sex,and then not expecting any consequences is just not on.