February 7 is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. Research shows that Black Americans are more likely to be diagnosed with and live with HIV, while facing barriers to accessing HIV prevention and treatment. At the same time, Black communities are subject to heightened police surveillance and more severe penalties within the criminal legal system.
These intersecting inequities result in Black Americans being disproportionately impacted by HIV criminalization in the United States.
HIV criminalization is a term used to describe laws that criminalize otherwise legal conduct or increase the penalties for illegal conduct based on a person’s HIV-positive status. Nationally, 32 states criminalize people living with HIV (PLWH).
Between 2015 and 2025, the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law analyzed the enforcement of HIV-related criminal laws in 16 states. A new summary of research details the impact of HIV criminalization on Black Americans. For instance,
- Black Americans are more likely to be arrested for HIV-related allegations.
- In all 16 of the states we have studied, Black Americans were arrested at higher rates than their share of the state population.
- In 64% of the states, Black Americans were arrested at higher rates than their share of PLWH in the state.
- Black Americans are more likely to be convicted of HIV-related allegations.
- Across all 16 states analyzed, Black Americans were convicted at higher rates than their share of the state population.
- In 75% of the states analyzed, Black Americans were convicted at higher rates than their share of people living with HIV in the state.
- Black Americans are more likely to face harsh post-conviction penalties like sex offender registration.
- In all states studied, Black Americans were more likely to be placed on a sex offender registry for an HIV-related conviction.
“Most HIV criminal laws were enacted before effective HIV treatment and prevention tools became widely available,” said Nathan Cisneros, Director of the HIV Criminalization Project at the Williams Institute. “In recent years, there has been a push to reform or repeal these laws as policymakers and the public increasingly recognize that these laws can discourage testing, increase stigma, and deepen disparities—especially for Black Americans.”