Criminalised for Living: Women and HIV in EECA
In July 2025 a woman in Uzbekistan was convicted by a local criminal court for failing to disclose her HIV status to her partner and sentenced to three years and six months’ non-custodial punishment — despite being on treatment and the case involving no evidence of actual harm. The verdict reflects a punitive application of HIV-specific criminal law that continues to disproportionately impact women across Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Her story, though specific in place and circumstance, is tragically familiar. Across the region, outdated laws criminalise people living with HIV on the basis of perceived exposure or non-disclosure, not on intent to harm or actual transmission. In the first half of 2025 alone, civil society monitoring documented dozens of such prosecutions in the EECA region, with Uzbekistan accounting for more than half of all reported cases globally. (HIV Justice Network)
On 28 February — HIV Is Not a Crime Awareness Day — communities and advocates mark a growing global recognition that punitive legal approaches do not advance public health or justice. They worsen both. For women in EECA, these laws intersect with gender-based discrimination, stigma and inequality, often with devastating effects.
EWNA’s community-led research has repeatedly shown that women living with HIV in the region are more likely than men to face criminal investigation — not because they have caused harm, but simply because they live with a manageable health condition and are subject to laws that treat HIV status as a criminal risk. Such prosecutions routinely ignore modern scientific evidence that effective antiretroviral therapy (ART) suppresses viral load and eliminates the risk of sexual transmission (U=U) — yet many legal codes make no allowance for treatment status or informed consent.
These prosecutions deter people from testing and seeking treatment, undermining public health and deepening stigma. Women are particularly affected — especially those diagnosed during pregnancy or through routine antenatal care. In some EECA countries, women have faced investigation or prosecution not only in relation to sexual transmission, but also in cases involving pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding, despite medical guidance and treatment significantly reducing or eliminating risk.
Scientific consensus is clear: criminal law should be reserved for the rare cases of intentional and malicious transmission. Broad provisions criminalising exposure, non-disclosure, or vertical transmission ignore modern evidence and disproportionately punish women. Yet across much of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, such laws remain in force and are actively applied.
Observed each year on 28 February, HIV Is Not a Crime Awareness Day calls attention to this gap between science, human rights, and law. The Eurasian Women’s Network on AIDS urges governments in the region to repeal HIV-specific criminal laws that contradict current evidence, adopt rights-based public health approaches, and invest in stigma reduction and gender-responsive services.
HIV is a health condition — not a crime. For women living with HIV in EECA, legal reform is not optional; it is urgent!