Too many prisons aren't providing comprehensive HIV treatment or preventive care — putting the health and lives of incarcerated people and their communities at risk.
"HIV prevention in prisons and especially in jails, is egregious," says Jason Lydon of Black and Pink, a nonprofit that advocates for LGBTQ prisoners. While most currently-incarcerated HIV-positive people test positive for the virus before they are locked up, being incarcerated means condoms become contraband,
PrEP is largely unavailable, and, in jails, ongoing treatment for HIV is interrupted. Individuals are being denied the ability to make their own decisions about their bodies and their health. This is one of many human rights violations that exist in America's prison system — a system that disproportionately racially profiles, criminalizes, and incarcerates Black, Brown, queer, and trans people.
#HIVIsNotACrime
Many states have laws that criminalize otherwise legal behaviors of people living with HIV, or worsen penalties based on a person's HIV-positive status. California is at the forefront of reforming these outdated laws which are based on fear, rather than on the latest advances in health care — taking an important step to reduce stigma around HIV and help people feel safer about getting tested and treated.
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