Arkansas laws criminalizing HIV disproportionately affect Black men
Based on data from the state of Arkansas regarding individuals who came into contact with the state’s criminal justice system through allegations of HIV-related crimes, analysis by UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute has found that the state’s laws criminalizing HIV-positive status disproportionately impacts Black men.
Analysis released this week showed that since 1989, at least 108 people have been charged with an HIV-related crime in Arkansas, and those crimes are disproportionately enforced based on gender and race, with Black men over-represented.
Analysis shows that while Black men make up only 7 percent of the state’s population and only 31 percent of people living with HIV in Arkansas, Black men make up 44 percent of HIV-related arrests.
In addition, of the 14 people currently on Arkansas’ sex offender registry for an HIV-related conviction, half are Black men, although they make up only 22 percent of the overall population on the registry.
