Laws that criminalize HIV transmission do not apparently increase rates of condom use among men who have sex with men (MSM), aidsmap reports. Publishing their findings in AIDS & Behavior, researchers surveyed 2,013 MSM who were recruited online in 2010.

About one in five of the men had been diagnosed with HIV.

Sixty-eight percent of the participants said they had had condomless intercourse during the previous six months. This rate was unaffected by whether they lived in a state that had an HIV criminalization statute.

Despite the fact that half the men lived in states with HIV criminalization laws, three-quarters did not know if their state had such a statute. Whether their information about the existence of a state statue was correct did not affect the likelihood that they reported recent condomless sex.

Out of the 17 percent of the participants who believed their state did have such a law, 75 percent reported recent sex without a condom, compared with 66 percent of the men who were unsure about their state’s law.

To read the aidsmap article, click here.

To read the study abstract, click here.