Exploring the Impact of Criminal HIV Disclosure Law

描述（由申请人提供）： 美国有24个州的刑事法规禁止艾滋病毒阳性者在未事先向潜在性伴侣透露其艾滋病毒状况的情况下从事性活动。这些法律的假定目标之一是增加艾滋病毒抗体阳性者的血清状况披露，以期艾滋病毒抗体阴性者在知道其伴侣感染艾滋病毒后更有可能采取措施保护自己不受感染。然而，这些法律在鼓励披露血清状况方面的有效性、披露与安全性行为的关系以及这些法律无意中助长与艾滋病毒有关的耻辱或其他负面后果的可能性尚不清楚。 为了开始，以解决这些知识差距，我们提出了一项研究，具有以下具体目标：1）以确定在何种程度上艾滋病毒阳性的人生活在密歇根州的意识和理解密歇根州的刑事艾滋病毒披露法。2)评估密歇根州的刑事艾滋病毒披露法在减少艾滋病毒传播风险活动的有效性。3)确定密歇根州的刑事艾滋病毒披露法是否对艾滋病毒阳性者有任何意想不到的负面影响，这些人了解法律，如增加与艾滋病毒有关的耻辱感或认为需要隐瞒自己的疾病。 为了实现这些具体目标，我们将调查400名艾滋病毒阳性的男性和女性从整个密歇根州招募。受访者将被要求提供有关他们的熟悉程度，信息来源，密歇根州的艾滋病毒披露法，他们最近的性行为和披露行为的知识，以及他们对艾滋病毒相关的耻辱感和需要隐瞒他们的艾滋病毒状态的看法。这项研究的结果将在学术期刊上和通过会议报告传播，并将在密歇根州的决策者的书面报告和演示文稿中进行总结。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Twenty-four US states have criminal statutes that prohibit HIV-positive persons from engaging in sexual activities without prior disclosure of their HIV status to prospective sex partners. One of the putative goals of these laws is to increase serostatus disclosure by HIV-positive persons, with the expectation that HIV-negative persons will be more likely to take steps to protect themselves from infection if they know their partner has HIV. However, the effectiveness of these laws in encouraging serostatus disclosure, the relationship of disclosure to safer sex practices, and the potential of these laws to inadvertently foster HIV-related stigma or other negative consequences is not known. To begin to address these knowledge gaps, we propose a study with the following specific aims: 1) To determine the extent to which HIV-positive persons living in Michigan are aware of and understand Michigan's criminal HIV disclosure law. 2) To assess the effectiveness of Michigan's criminal HIV disclosure law in reducing HIV transmission risk activities. 3) To determine whether Michigan's criminal HIV disclosure law has any unanticipated negative effects on HIV-positive persons who are knowledgeable about the law such as increasing perceived HIV-related stigma or perceived need to conceal one's disease. To achieve these specific aims we will survey 400 HIV-positive men and women recruited from throughout the state of Michigan. Respondents will be asked to provide information about their familiarity with, sources of information about, and knowledge of Michigan's HIV disclosure law, their recent sexual and disclosure behaviors, and their perception of HIV-related stigma and the need to conceal their HIV status. The findings of this study will be disseminated in academic journals and through conference presentations, and will be summarized in a written report and presentation to policy makers in Michigan.