In recent years, most states have enacted laws concerning the testing of criminal offenders and their victims for infection and transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). HIV causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome, (AIDS). Such laws were passed in response to the recognized possibility of the transmission of HIV/AIDS during sexual assault or abuse, as well as other crimes where an exchange of bodily fluids takes place. They were also the result of a new understanding of the added trauma a sexual assault victim endures when faced with the possibility of having contracted a terminal disease. In a study conducted by the National Center for Victims of Crime and the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, 40 percent (40%) of sexual assault victims indicated that the fear of contracting HIV/AIDS was a major concern.

[Read more.]