When STIs Meet Criminal Law

In May, Health+Law Research Lead Associate Professor David Carter co-wrote an article with Associate Professor Bridget Haire for The Conversation, discussing a recent Canberra case of a man convicted of transmitting genital herpes to a sexual partner. The case is believed to be an Australian first.

The man pleaded guilty to ‘recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm’ after transmitting HSV-2 – or ‘genital herpes’ – to a sexual partner. The offence is the same charge used to prosecute very serious physical harm and carries a maximum sentence of 13 years in the Australian Capital Territory.

While prosecutions for transmitting a ‘grievous bodily disease’ have previously occurred in Australia in relation to HIV, this is the first known Australian prosecution involving genital herpes. For Bridget and David, the case represents a significant – and worrying – expansion of criminal law into sexual health, raising important legal and ethical questions. Is the use of the criminal law in this way good for public health? Does criminalising STI transmission actually make good use of the criminal law?

In their discussion of these questions, Bridget and David point to the evidence suggesting that it does not. As they quite emphatically conclude:

‘From a public health perspective … criminalising the transmission of STIs is a problem.’

Their article discusses the significance of this case’s outcome – both for law and for the public health management of STIs.

Read Bridget and David’s article on The Conversation here