HIV and AIDS:
Stigma and Discrimination

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Perhaps as a response, numerous countries have now enacted legislation to protect the rights and freedoms of people living with HIV and AIDS and to safeguard them from discrimination. Much of this legislation has sought to ensure their right to employment, education, privacy and confidentiality, as well as the right to access information, treatment and support.

Governments and national authorities sometimes cover up and hide cases, or fail to maintain reliable reporting systems. Ignoring the existence of HIV and AIDS, neglecting to respond to the needs of those living with HIV infection, and failing to recognize growing epidemics in the belief that HIV/AIDS 'can never happen to us' are some of the most common forms of denial. This denial fuels AIDS stigma by making those individuals who are infected appear abnormal and exceptional.

Stigma and discrimination can arise from community-level responses to HIV and AIDS. The harassing of individuals suspected of being infected or of belonging to a particular group has been widely reported. It is often motivated by the need to blame and punish and in extreme circumstances can extend to acts of violence and murder. Attacks on men who are assumed gay have increased in many parts of the world, and HIV and AIDS related murders have been reported in countries as diverse as Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, India, South Africa and Thailand. In December 1998, Gugu Dhlamini was stoned and beaten to death by neighbors in her township near Durban, South Africa, after speaking out openly on World AIDS Day about her HIV status.

Women and stigma

The impact of HIV/AIDS on women is particularly acute. In many developing countries, women are often economically, culturally and socially disadvantaged and lack equal access to treatment, financial support and education. In a number of societies, women are mistakenly perceived as the main transmitters of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Together with traditional beliefs about sex, blood and the transmission of other diseases, these beliefs provide a basis for the further stigma of women within the context of HIV and AIDS

HIV-positive women are treated very differently from men in many developing countries. Men are likely to be 'excused' for their behavior that resulted in their infection, whereas women are not.

"My mother-in-law tells everybody, 'Because of her, my son got this disease. My son is a simple as good as gold-but she brought him this disease."
- HIV-positive woman, aged 26, India

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In India, for example, the husbands who infected them may abandon women living with HIV or AIDS. Rejection by wider family members is also common. In some African countries, women, whose husbands have died from AIDS-related infections, have been blamed for their deaths.

Families

In the majority of developing countries, families are the primary caregivers to sick members. There is clear evidence of the importance of the role that the family plays in providing support and care for people living with HIV/AIDS. However, not all family response is positive. Infected members of the family can find themselves stigmatized and discriminated against within the home. There is also mounting evidence that women and non-heterosexual family members are more likely to be badly treated than children and men.

"My mother-in-law has kept everything separate for me-my glass, my plate, they never discriminated like this with their son. They used to eat together with him. For me, it's don't do this or don't touch that and even if I use a bucket to bathe, they yell- 'wash it, wash it'. They really harass me. I wish nobody comes to be in my situation and I wish nobody does this to anybody. But what can I do? My parents and brother also do not want me back."
- HIV-positive woman, aged 23, India

Employment

While HIV is not transmitted in the majority of workplace settings, the supposed risk of transmission has been used by numerous employers to terminate or refuse employment. There is also evidence that if people living with HIV/AIDS are open about their infection status at work, they may well experience stigmatization and discrimination by others.

"Nobody will come near me, eat with me in the canteen, nobody will want to work with me, I am an outcast here."
- HIV positive man, aged 27, U.S.

Pre-employment screening takes place in many industries, particularly in countries where the means for testing are available and affordable.

In poorer countries screening has also been reported as taking place, especially in industries where health benefits are available to employees. Employer-sponsored insurance schemes providing medical care and pensions for their workers have come under increasing pressure in countries that have been seriously affected by HIV and AIDS. Some employers have used this pressure to deny employment to people with HIV or AIDS.

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Last updated: 10/05

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