Injectable Drugs Inside An Injection Room At A Hospital In Shanghai
Injectable drugs are pictured inside an injection room at a hospital in Shanghai May 4, 2014. Reuters/Aly Song

A crew member of a yacht, on Sept. 17 at 12:15 a.m, was stabbed by a woman bearing a syringe outside the Red Star bar in Fremont neighborhood in Seattle. After stabbing, the woman told him, "Welcome to the HIV club."

The victim described the woman as a 5-foot 6-inch white with shoulder-length dirty blonde hair and in her mid to late 20s. She also had a medium build. After the incident, she walked away with her companion, a man with a baseball hat and around the same age as her. The Seattle Police described the incident as "unprovoked."

The victim was with his girlfriend when he felt a sharp prick and a stabbing puncture on his left tricep. When he looked up, he saw his attacker. After she walked off, he looked at his arm and saw blood. He was so shocked and traumatised that he was unable to chase her either.

He and his girlfriend are crew members on a yacht and citizens of the United Kingdom. He approached the police only two days after the incident. His first instinct was to visit the Harborview Medical Center for treatment. The police are not sure if he was infected with HIV.

Seattle Police Detective Patrick Michaud was surprised at the incident. He told KIRO TV that they had never heard of anything of this sort in Seattle. He hoped it was just someone with a poor sense of humour who was trying to scare another.

If it is found that the victim does have HIV, then the woman would be guilty of a Class A felony under Washington law. The law is about criminalising and punishing those people affected by HIV in the crime of exposing it to others.

According to ProPublica, the general public, as well as those affected with HIV, support the laws, but there are some who disagree. Medical Daily cited a survey conducted in 2010 that found 87 percent of the respondents believed that having condom-protected or unprotected intercourse with an uninformed partner should be considered a crime.