Earlier this week, PBS aired the documentary Perpetuating Stigma about the ongoing criminalization of women with HIV. Through the stories of several women impacted by HIV criminalization — the use of criminal law to target people diagnosed with HIV for prosecutions and imprisonment — the documentary movingly illustrates how such laws dehumanize and stigmatize women living with HIV. But because of the opposition of the Alabama Department of Corrections, the producers of “Perpetuating Stigma” never got to tell the story of Dana Harley.
It's admirable that the federal government provides money to help victims of human trafficking in the United States get their lives back through the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. Unfortunately, many trafficking victims have been raped, or forced into prostitution, and are at increased risk of HIV disease as a result.
