Old HIV Laws

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Old HIV Laws

Washington Post (12/25/97) P. A26
Raver, Deirdre

Abstract: In response to a Washington Post article about a convicted sex offender infected with HIV who knowingly exposed dozens of women in Maryland, Deidre Raver writes that archaic HIV notification laws grant special rights to rapists and deny women legal recourse in the event they are sexually assaulted and exposed to HIV. Raver, head of the lobbying group Women Against Violence, specifically cites the case of Dwight Smallwood, an HIV-infected rapist who raped three women and intentionally exposed his victims to the virus. The Maryland Court of Appeals, explains Raver, decreed that Smallwood would have had to verbally communicate his HIV status in order to prove intent to expose others to the virus. Raver notes that even though Rep. Thomas Coburn's 1997 HIV Prevention Act requires HIV notification laws, it is being blocked by Congressional members who favor out-dated HIV laws even though the stigma surrounding the virus has since abated. Raver writes that HIV disclosure laws are needed to make public health a top priority again.

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