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People Living with HIV

Guidance for people living with HIV who are threatened with, or facing, charges under one of Indiana’s HIV criminal laws. Know your rights, protect yourself, and find help. What You Need to Know:

Indiana has several laws that can criminalize conduct based on a person’s HIV status. Knowing what the law requires can help you protect yourself.

  • Click here to Learn About Indiana’s HIV Criminal Laws
  • Click here for a video course on Indiana’s HIV Disclosure Law and how to protect yourself. 
  • Click here for a short clip on Indiana’s Battery By Bodily Fluid Law, the most widely enforced law.

If police contact you about an HIV-related allegation, do not discuss the allegation or your HIV status without an attorney present. Tell them: “I want a lawyer. I am exercising my right to remain silent.”

  • DO NOT answer questions about about the allegations or your HIV status without an attorney present (no matter how well-known your HIV+ status might be)
  • DO NOT sign documents or consent to testing without speaking to an attorney.
  • DO NOT contact the person making the allegation.
  • DO NOT resist arrest.

Be polite, but do not answer questions, provide information, acknowledge allegations, or sign anything without a lawyer present—even if you know you did nothing wrong. Police may suggest that cooperating will make things easier, but anything you say can be used against you. Ask for a lawyer and remain silent.

Keep evidence of disclosure. If you disclose your HIV status to a sexual or needle-sharing partner, keeping evidence of that disclosure may help protect you if it is later disputed. Evidence could include texts, emails, messages, witnesses, or other documentation. Keep copies somewhere safe. For example:

  • Click here for a video course on Indiana’s HIV Disclosure Law and more detailed information on how to protect yourself.
  • Disclose with a witness present who could later confirm the conversation.
  • Record the conversation when you disclose your HIV status.
  • Have your partner sign a disclosure form before having sex (see sample).
  • Save proof of disclosure, such as texts, emails, voicemails, or dating-app messages that include the date. Keep backup copies in a safe separate location.
  • Bring your partner with you to a doctor or caseworker visit and ask their knowledge of your HIV status be documented.
  • Document when disclosure occurred in an email or text to yourself.
  • Keep track of other evidence showing your partner knew your HIV status, such as seeing your HIV medications or HIV-related materials.

Exercise your right to remain silent until you have a lawyer. If you cannot afford one, the state must provide one for you. Finding a lawyer knowledgeable about HIV and criminal law can be difficult. Contact your local public defender’s office, HIV legal clinic or HIV service provider. Below are some resources:

Attorney and Advanced Legal Resources

Are you representing someone investigated or charged under one of Indiana’s HIV-related criminal laws? HMM-Indiana can connect attorneys with Indiana-specific legal resources, HIV science, criminalization research, and national HIV legal experts info@HIVModernizationMovement.org.

Why ADA Title II fits HIV criminal law: People living with HIV are protected under the ADA; criminal laws that impose harsher penalties solely because of HIV status can be unlawful disability discrimination by a state/local government (as in Indiana). Click the links below to learn more.

Provider Resources

Indiana’s HIV laws can affect conversations between providers and patients about disclosure, medical records, and possible criminal investigations. Providers can play an important role in helping patients understand the law and connect with appropriate resources.

HIV Discrimination & Civil Rights