Published February, 2025
Mapping HIV Criminalization Laws in the U.S., CHLP 2025
In the United States, 32 states criminalize people living with HIV (PLHIV) and 28 states have harsh criminal penalty enhancements that elevate charges based on a person’s knowledge of their HIV status. For more than a decade CHLP has produced maps that portray the variety and prevalence of these laws used to prosecute and punish PLHIV. This new release of the maps represents a substantial update resulting from a comprehensive research process and updated methodology based on CHLP’s Sourcebook on State and Federal HIV Criminal Law and Practice.
The new maps use an HIV specificity scale to identify laws that target PLHIV and other stigmatized health conditions through direct and indirect language. In addition to the novel HIV specificity scale, the new maps provide greater detail on enhancements to provoke a more nuanced discussion on the threat of HIV criminalization, especially for people with intersecting marginalized identities. CHLP produced A User Guide to CHLP’s Updated HIV Criminalization Maps that provides an overview of the updates, an explanation of the update process, and terms and concepts that are essential for understanding the new HIV criminalization maps.
CHLP encourages the broad use of our HIV criminalization maps. These maps are designed to support efforts to challenge laws and to inform communities, policymakers, and legal professionals about the landscape of HIV criminalization in the United States. If you choose to use our maps in presentations, reports, or other materials, please ensure that the Center for HIV Law and Policy (CHLP) is appropriately credited. Attribution should include our full name and a link to our website or the original source of the map. Additionally, to maintain the integrity and accuracy of the information provided, we ask that you do not alter or modify the maps in any way. If you have questions about their content or would like to collaborate on specific applications, please reach out to CHLP for further guidance.
Copyright Information: CHLP encourages the broad use and sharing of resources. Please credit CHLP when using these materials or their content. and do not alter, adapt or present as your work without prior permission from CHLP.
Legal Disclaimer: CHLP makes an effort to ensure legal information is correct and current, but the law is regularly changing, and the accuracy of the information provided cannot be guaranteed. The legal information in a given resource may not be applicable to all situations and is not—and should not be relied upon—as a substitute for legal advice.