Inequity, structural violence, and the criminalization of HIV non-disclosure

Abstract

This paper was originally written for Dr. Alissa Greer’s CRIM 312 course Criminological Perspectives on Social Problems. The assignment asked students to apply the concepts of inequity and structural violence to a criminalized social issue. The paper uses APA citation style.

This paper considers how the criminalization of HIV non-disclosure and the media coverage of criminal prosecutions of people living with HIV in Canada has created an environment where HIV-positive people experience a degree of stigmatization, discrimination, rejection, and inequal treatment that arguably amounts to structural violence. An analysis of how the concepts of inequity and structural violence relate to the experiences of people living with HIV in Canada is followed by a reflection on how such concepts are valuable where a critical examination of a criminalized social issue is concerned.