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Criminalization and capture strategies in the HIV/AIDS assemblage
1Department of Legal Studies, Ontario Tech University, Oshawa, Canada.
International Journal of Prisoner Health
|February 26, 2021
Summary
Canadian law criminalizes activities related to HIV transmission, not the act itself. This criminalization, coupled with inadequate healthcare and resistance to harm reduction, leads to poor health outcomes for people living with HIV/AIDS.
Area of Science:
- Public Health Law
- Sociology of Health
- Criminology
Background:
- HIV/AIDS is framed as a public threat within Canadian legal structures.
- Existing legal frameworks and societal attitudes contribute to the stigmatization of individuals with HIV/AIDS.
- The intersection of HIV/AIDS with neoliberal, white supremacist, and heteropatriarchal power structures exacerbates marginalization.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze how HIV/AIDS is constructed as a public threat in Canadian law, focusing on transmission.
- To investigate how legal strategies of 'capture' amplify the criminalization of HIV/AIDS, negatively impacting health outcomes.
- To apply affect theory, specifically Jasbir Puar's concepts of assemblage and debility, to understand the experiences of people with HIV/AIDS within the Canadian criminal justice system.
Main Methods:
- Conceptual analysis applying affect theory, particularly Jasbir Puar's work on assemblage and debility.
- Examination of Canadian legal frameworks and their impact on individuals living with HIV/AIDS.
- Critique of how criminalization strategies contribute to debilitating health outcomes.
Main Results:
- While HIV transmission is not criminalized, related activities like non-disclosure, sex work, and substance use are.
- Criminalization of HIV-associated activities extends through inadequate healthcare and pharmacare services.
- State resistance to harm reduction measures and punitive population management strategies intensify negative health outcomes.
Conclusions:
- Canadian law and associated strategies construct HIV/AIDS as a criminal issue rather than a public health concern.
- These legal and social assemblages create debilitating conditions for people living with HIV/AIDS, particularly those from marginalized groups.
- The study holds Canada accountable for perpetuating harm against a historically disadvantaged and multiply marginalized population through its legal and social policies.
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