Organization promotes modernization of HIV law

Cleveland — Naimah O’Neal has lived with HIV for 30 years. She was diagnosed in 1992 at the age of 29. She said she believed she had obtained the virus from her husband who was using her substance or received her blood after breaking her arm in her twenties. ..

O’Neill, a medical social worker at Circle Health and an advocate for people living with HIV, said: “It’s not how many partners you have, you have one partner and you can be HIV positive. What that is is not to protect yourself.”

HIV A virus that attacks the body’s immune system. Today, it is known that it can affect anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, gender, or age.

“Unless you’re having sex and you’re not using condoms or you’re protecting yourself with your current condoms, PREP, you’re at risk,” O’Neill said. “You have a child born with it, and they got it from their mother who gave it to them, so it doesn’t matter.”

Naimah O’Neal (Taylor Bruck / Spectrum News 1)

Science has come a long way. Being HIV positive was once considered a death sentence. Advances in medicine have helped change HIV from a deadly infection to a manageable chronic condition.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that if people take HIV drugs as prescribed, the amount of HIV in the blood may be undetectable, according to a study. Undetectable means unsendable.. Not everyone taking HIV drugs is undetectable, but the CDC may get viral load that most people can’t detect within 6 months by taking the drug daily as prescribed. It states that there is. The only way to know if someone isn’t detected is to visit your provider on a regular basis.

Despite advances in medicine, the law has not caught up.

of Ohio, Six laws add or enhance criminal penalties based on HIV status. If you are HIV positive and you know that you are having “sexual activity” without revealing your identity, you may be charged with a felony.

“If you happen to live with HIV, what would have been a misdemeanor will automatically become a felony just because you live with HIV,” said the facilitator of the Ohio Health Modernization Movement. Said Kim Welter. “There’s also a lot of talk from people who have been blackmailed under the law. So hey, if you don’t give me $ 500 right now, I went to the police and we had sex, and I’m going to tell them that you didn’t tell me that you were HIV positive. We have people in a situation of domestic violence. If you leave me or you kick me out. I go to the police and tell them that you didn’t tell me you were HIV positive. “

Kim Welter Working for Equality ohio Most people said they understood HIV in the 1980s. The law criminalizes behaviors that cannot be transmitted to HIV, such as spitting, and is applied regardless of the actual infection or intention.

“It makes sense, people should disclose their health,” Welter said. “The problem is that you need to prove it, and that’s a problem for many. So how are you going to prove what I said to someone?”

(Source: Ohio Health Modernization Movement)

O’Neill said people living with HIV feel guilty until they are proved innocent, but they feel innocent until they are proved innocent.

“If you don’t say you’re HIV positive, whether you’re taking medicine or using a condom, you could be prosecuted under the law and put in jail. It’s a long time,” O’Neill said. “Many of us live alone. We live in fear because we can be prosecuted. We haven’t done anything wrong, but we have done something wrong. And the fact that we live with HIV should not be the reason we are prosecuted. “

She said current legislation promotes stigma, prevents progress, and discourages people from taking tests and knowing their status. Through her work as an advocate for people living with HIV, she seeks to dispel misunderstandings about the virus.

“Ignorance is currently fueling Ohio law. Ignorance and fear,” O’Neill said. “You can’t spread [HIV] You can’t spread it through saliva, through saliva, you can’t spread it through sweat. It can be spread through blood, vaginal fluid and semen. “

National and state organizations are promoting the modernization of HIV law to align it with current science. Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, Cyril project, Equality ohio, Equitas Health, Ohio Health Modernization Movement others. February 28th is not the first HIV day of criminal awareness. At least nine states have modernized their legislation, including California, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, and Virginia.

Welter said the law aimed at stopping the HIV epidemic could now be the opposite.according to CDC, 1 in 7 people living with HIV don’t even know they are infected with the virus. Under current law, she said ignorance is bliss. Some people avoid testing with her because she doesn’t want to be subject to the law.

“If you don’t know who you are, you won’t be prosecuted under these laws,” Welter said. “Therefore, the next logic is that it’s safe without knowing your status. That’s a shame, because most transmissions take place among people who don’t know their status. Because, from a public health perspective, we want everyone to take the test. “

Naimah O’Neal (Taylor Bruck / Spectrum News 1)

Welter said modernizing the law would make it harder for prosecutors to convict people just because they are HIV-positive. The organization strives to reduce criminal penalties for failing to notify sexual partners of positive HIV status from felony to misdemeanor, resulting in consistent accusations across all infectious diseases.

“We need to raise it to modern standards. We need to make it the way people want to be tested,” O’Neill said. “Until we find a positive person and get treatment, and until we find a negative person and keep them negative, we will always have this conversation. We say they can’t detect the science, they I want to be able to include all the fact that he may have used a condom. ”

O’Neill and Welter said people could treat or criminalize the virus, and treatment is the answer to ending the HIV epidemic.

“If you want to end the epidemic, the way to end the epidemic is to end the stigma,” Welter said. “Part of ending the stigma is getting rid of criminalization, you can test and care for people, and we can end the epidemic. That’s the only way. “

O’Neill agreed that it was imperative to end the stigma.

“We will never deal with HIV and AIDS in my lifetime or in the lives of my grandchildren until we deal with fear and stigma, and all misunderstandings as a community,” O’Neill said. ..

There are free HIV testing sites throughout Ohio. Free HIV test kit It may be sent to a person’s house. Click here for more information on promoting the modernization of HIV law in Ohio. here.