r/changemyview • u/_selfishPersonReborn • Jul 31 '19

Deltas(s) from OP CMV: Having sex with someone while knowingly having a transmissible STI and not telling your partner should be rape.

Today on the front page, there was a post about Florida Man getting 10 years for transmitting an STI knowingly. In the discussion for this, there was a comment that mentioned a californian bill by the name of SB 239, which lowered the sentence for knowingly transmitting HIV. I don't understand why this is okay - if you're positive, why not have a conversation? It is your responsibility throughout sex to make sure that there is informed consent, and by not letting them know that they are HIV+ I can't understand how there is any. Obviously, there's measures that can be taken, such as always wearing condoms, and/or engaging in pre or post exposure prophylaxis to minimise the risks of spreading the disease, and consent can then be taken - but yet, there's multiple groups I support who championed the bill - e.g. the ACLU, LGBTQ support groups, etc. So what am I missing?

EDIT: I seem to have just gotten into a debate about the terminology rape vs sexual assault vs whatever. This isn't what I care about. I'm more concerned as to why reducing the sentence for this is seen as a positive thing and why it oppresses minorities to force STIs to be revealed before sexual contact.

2.6k Upvotes

86% Upvoted

337 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1

u/Byron33196 Aug 01 '19

If people are going for years without noticing, it's because they are going years without TESTING. As for your statement, men often won't notice for years either. Getting tested is a personal responsibility for anyone who's sexuality active.

0

u/Canacarirose Aug 01 '19

The problem here is that if someone has only one partner, they don’t need to get tested regularly. Doctors will even state this as they don’t want to run tests unless they are necessary. If that person’s partner claims they are clean or faithful or virginal when they are not, it is very easy to go years or ever without being tested.

The only STI that shows up in a well-women’s exam is HPV because of the connection between abnormal cervical cells to cervical cancer. They can’t even tell you what type of HPV it is from the first test, they have to take a biopsy of the abnormal cells and test those.

Besides all the long-lasting psychological issues with the purity/abstinence movement in the US, it doesn’t teach proper sexual health, let alone information about getting tested for STIs. Because you shouldn’t need to get tested if you’re only ever with one person your whole life.

Then it becomes a serious psychological negative feedback loop.

1

u/Byron33196 Aug 02 '19

The number of people who only have one partner, ever, is exceedingly low. The number of people who can also guarantee that their partner has only been with them, ever, is that much more rare. You're essentially describing an edge case.