Do I have to tell anyone?
This is a very simple question that
has a hard answer. There are two things
to think about before you decide to
tell someone:
- What does the law say?
- How do you feel about telling?
The Law
There are two different laws
that talk about HIV.
Criminal Law:
The only person/people you have to
tell you’re HIV positive is your
sexual partner(s).
The Supreme Court of Canada says
that you have to tell your HIV status
to your sexual partners if you have
unprotected sex (sex without a condom).
If you don’t tell them you can
be charged – even if your sexual
partner doesn’t get HIV.
Generally the Criminal Law says that
If you have unprotected sex and do
not tell your HIV-positive status
to your HIV-negative partner(s), you
have committed an assault UNLESS it
can be confirmed (in the courts) that
the partner would have consented to
the unprotected sex even if he or
she had known about your HIV status
before. (Taken from the Cuerrier
case)
Public Health Law:
This is a provincial law. Every province
has different Public Health laws,
so you need to look into your province’s
public health law for more information.
There are some areas where the local
public health office calls up the
HIV clinic on a regular basis to ask
for updates about their HIV-positive
patients. Overall, there is an enormous
variation from health unit to health
unit
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