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https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/12958
Title: | (Ill-Legal) Lust is a battle field: HIV risk, socio-sexuality and criminality | Contributor(s): | Houlihan, Annette (author) | Publication Date: | 2008 | Handle Link: | https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/12958 | Abstract: | This paper examines the criminalisation of HIV infection. HIV transmission offences exist in all Australian states and territories, but the bulk of prosecutions have occurred in Victoria. This paper outlines criminal legal responses to the virus in that state with an overview of the legislation and case law. Victoria has several HIV specific and non-specific offences which may be applied to situations of HIV infection risk. It is the HIV non-specific offences which have been successfully used to prosecute HIV infection risks. The case law outlines several instances where HIV positive bodies have been charged with offences for placing others at risk of HIV infection. These charges have been applied in several cases regardless of whether the complainants seroconvert. Those charged have been same-sex desiring men or African-born men who engaged in sex with Caucasian women. There are marked differences in the sentences which have been applied to these defendants, which are based on the sexuality of the defendant and complainant. This demonstrates the heterosexist and Eurocentric character of the performance of these laws. These offences do not operate in isolation to sociality, rather this area of law embodies many cultural panics about the Other. HIV transmission offences signal socio-legal panics about sexuality, race/ethnicity and disease, situating certain bodies at greater risk of crimino-legal punishment. | Publication Type: | Conference Publication | Conference Details: | LSAANZ 2008: 25th Annual Law and Society Association of Australia and New Zealand Conference: 'W(h)ither Human Rights?', Sydney, Australia, 10th - 12th December, 2008 | Source of Publication: | 'W(h)ither Human Rights?' Proceedings of the 25th Annual Conference of the Law and Society Association of Australia and New Zealand (LSAANZ), p. 1-11 | Publisher: | Law and Society Association of Australia and New Zealand (LSAANZ) | Place of Publication: | Sydney, Australia | Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: | 160203 Courts and Sentencing 180110 Criminal Law and Procedure |
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: | 949999 Law, Politics and Community Services not elsewhere classified | Peer Reviewed: | Yes | HERDC Category Description: | E1 Refereed Scholarly Conference Publication | Publisher/associated links: | http://hdl.handle.net/2123/4003 |
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Appears in Collections: | Conference Publication |
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