Assessing the impact of demographic, experiential, and attitudinal factors on support for the criminalization of HIV transmission
Date
2012-12-01
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Abstract
Over the years criminal prosecutions regarding HIV transmission have increased in
Canada. There is ongoing debate within the academic and legal community regarding whether
reactive, criminal justice measures or preventative, harm reduction measures are best suited to
address HIV transmission. Using an on-line survey and multiple logistical regression analyses on
six vignettes on 316 undergraduate students from mostly 18-26 years of age, this research
assessed student attitudes towards the criminal law as a response to HIV transmission against
demographic, experiential and attitudinal predictors. The findings indicated that the majority of
participants were in favour of the criminalization of HIV transmission. The policy implications
that come from this study imply that there is a need to educate young people about HIV related
issues and the harm criminal justice responses cause to HIV prevention efforts.
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Keywords
Criminal law, HIV/AIDS, Sexual regulation, Perceptions