The Effects of HIV Related Stigma

Ever since the first cases of what eventually came to be known as AIDS were diagnosed in the early 1980s, people with HIV/AIDS have been stigmatized. Over time, there have been many misconceptions about this disease. Even though there have been many discoveries, and treatments for HIV have improved over time, there are still many people who understand very little about this disease. This lack of understanding, along with fear, misinformation about how the disease is transmitted, and “moral” judgments made about the types of people who contract HIV, all have led to stigmatization of, and discrimination against, people who are living with HIV/AIDS. Understanding the stigmatization of people with HIV/AIDS is an important social justice issue because that stigmatization can result in people with HIV being insulted, rejected, gossiped about, excluded from family and social activities, fired, and even jailed. People with HIV are no different from people suffering from other chronic diseases. Instead of being alienated, they have a right to be treated with fairness, respect, and dignity.

It is well evidenced that people who have both; history of drug use and disease which can be sexually transmitted such is HCV, are likely to experience stigma and discrimination in their life (Gilman 1999).Stigma and discrimination are socioeconomic factors which have a damaging health, social and financial consequences (Nursing Standard 2008). It is believed that those who are stigmatised and discriminated are more likely to have a lower income and due to this cannot afford to purchase better quality food, better housing, live in safer environments and have worse access to healthcare and education. Cinderella’s low socioeconomic status and negative social attitudes evidently put her physical and mental wellbeing at risk. Stigma and discrimination may relate to Social Symbolic Interaction Theory and in particular to the idea of labelling and its negative impact on people behaviour and self- concept (Miller J, Gibb S 2007). This would also fit with Carl Rodgers Person- Centred Theory and his idea of self- concept. Self –concept in other words is how we perceive and value our

With the help of government programs such as the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) as well as multiple other methods of sociological research and social justice work, there have been shifts toward better understanding this disease, those which are living with it, and the societal impact one’s own prejudices can make toward an individual living with AIDS. However, discrepancies still exist within how to properly educate others on the disease, how to recognize it as a disability within the context of our society, and how we must reconcile stigmas that play a role in plaguing any sort of positive conversation on the topic. With well-informed citizens on the issues of HIV and AIDS patients, not only can we reduce the stigma associated with the illness, but also work toward medical advancements that assist those living with HIV in a nondiscriminatory manner.

The African American community presumed HIV/AIDS exist only among Gay white males and treatment is specific to this population. This concept changed when the rates of HIV/AIDS infections arbitrarily increased among low income African Americans (i.e. those with different social experience, the gay, the bi-sexual men, the unemployed and the poor families). The stigma of being discriminated against by

But before we discuss ways in reducing HIV stigma, we should talk about what it consists of in Baton Rouge. Stigma can become a chronic stressor that leads to poor coping skills, inadequate self-care, and risky sexual behaviors (Johnson et al. 72). According to an HIV Infrastructure Study conducted by the Southern HIV/AIDS Initiative, they discussed what the HIV stigma consisted of in Baton Rouge. After a few interviews with employees in HIV/AIDS clinics and people living with HIV/AIDS, they stated that one of the main reasons why people refuse to go to a clinic to get HIV tested or delay testing is because they are afraid that people they know might see them getting tested and assume the worst from them (Reif et al. 12). People also don’t want to get tested because they fear the repercussions of getting tested positive for HIV and that their family or loved ones might shun them away if they were HIV-positive. People should not care about who is going to see them getting tested because they are being smart about taking steps in knowing their HIV status instead of waiting to show signs of AIDS infection and then it’ll be too late to get any treatment. Moreover, one study evaluating the HIV Stigma Scale had some key observations. Out of one-hundred and ten HIV-positive African-Americans that were picked for this study, some of the appalling statements they agreed with the most

Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a world range condition, which has a great impact on the society. This essay is going to explore how stigma and discrimination impact on a vulnerable group people, and as well as how health care system impact on this group of people. Furthermore, the essay is focusing on a vulnerable group of people, which are women, living in two districted country: Australia and South Africa. Furthermore, the situation in Australia is represented as a developed country, whereas South Africa is represented the third world, and these two factors of social determinants of health are going to compare and contrast between these two countries. According to the estimated in 2015 by UNIAIDS, there are 6.7 to 7.4 million people living with HIV (PLHIV) in South Africa and the HIV prevalence rate is 18.9% (UNIAIDS, 2015a), and there are 24 to 30 thousands PLHIV in Australia and the HIV prevalence rate is 0.2%(UNIAIDS, 2015b).

The stigma towards HIV positive African-American women also exists within their own communities; unfortunately, this stigma towards these women does not encourage them to come out as HIV positive individuals. The problem with this fear is that it not only worsens the anguish for the sick individual, but also puts the people around the individual at risk. In “Social Context of Rural Women with HIV/AIDS,” authors Kenneth D. Phillips, Linda Moneyham, Sandra P. Thomas, Mary Gunther, Medha Vyavaharkar discuss the significance of the stigma felt by HIV positive women; the authors point out that the existing stigma causes these women to live in secret (2011). In order to keep their illness hidden, they would have to be maintain some form of normalcy with the people around them. Societal stigma plays an important role in the occurrence of HIV; it can be studied by examining the results of “stigma reduction” in African-American communities (Loutfy et al, 2015). HIV stigma reduction is difficult when dealing with African-American women because the stigma of sexism and racism cannot be ignored. One of the other effects of stigma is depression (Logie, James, Tharao, & Loutfy, 2012). In a “multi-method community-based research (CBR) study with Women’s Health in Women’s Hands (WLWH) across Ontario,’’ researchers also found that other forms of stigma like race and gender do correlate with the stigma felt by HIV positive African-American women

Looking at the specific disease of HIV/AIDS, there is a captivating negative stigma surrounding anyone infected or possibly infected because others are fearful. This stigma is so potent because the disease usually starts from a homosexual and then spreads, attacking

Ever since the early 21st century, there have been many stigmas and discrimination towards individuals who have contracted certain viruses such as HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) and AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome). According to studies, HIV traces back to the 1920s in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as AIDS. By the 1960s, HIV had made its way to Haiti by transport routes and workers who had been temporarily staying in Congo returning to their homes. Those who had the virus dealt with extreme discrimination, as well as racism and stigma. Soon enough, the deadly disease had arrived to The United States of America, and its bountiful population did not react well. People began to associate HIV and AIDS with gay men,

“‘My daughter refused to go hospital to receive medicines. My daughter died because of the fear of stigmatization and discrimination’- Patience Eshun from Ghana, who lost her daughter to an AIDS-related illness”("HIV Stigma and Discrimination.").

Discrimination adds to the daily struggles faced by the growing number of people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States – people who are predominantly poor and disproportionately African American or Latino. Every agency’s biggest problems facing their clients involve meeting basic needs – coping with poverty, hunger, illiteracy, inadequate medical care, lack of transportation, and homelessness. In addition to those basic needs issues, people with HIV face a series of critical civil rights problems. Individuals living with HIV/AIDS need to know their rights and need the resources to advocate for themselves when their rights are threatened. They also need national legal organizations like the ACLU AIDS Project to enforce their civil rights and civil

The study conducted by Peter A. Vanable et al. [192] examined the impact of stigma-related experiences with a broad spectrum of health seeking behavior among HIV positive men and women. The study findings confirmed that stigma is correlated with psychological adjustment and medication adherence difficulties. These experiences are more frequently among people who disclose their HIV positive status to a broad range of social networks. In some cases there were incidents of increased number of receiving psychiatric care due to the stigma associated with the illness. Some of the PLHIV who missed the regular appointments to ART centers more likely reported stigma related

There are several individuals and population groups who are considered more vulnerable than others in every society. Such vulnerable populations may include abused individuals, people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and people affected by alcohol and substance abuse. These groups were chosen because in any society or cultural aspect, these individuals are especially susceptible to discrimination and aversion in today’

The research study, "Stigmatization of Persons with HIV/AIDS in Saudi Arabia" by Abdallah Badahdah is a significant contribution to HIV/AIDS-related literature focusing on the Middle Eastern and North African region (MENA). The study is invaluable in that it does not only contribute to the literature on knowledge and attitudes on HIV/AIDS, but also in providing logistical or methodological insights in conducting research studies in the MENA region. The study's specific focus is in Saudi Arabia, a country known for its being ultra-conservative when discussing sensitive issues such as sex and HIV/AIDS. Moreover, researchers are not only confronted with the challenge of actually exploring these kinds of sensitive issues, they also needed to deal with the fact that they may not be able to reach critical groups such as women and homosexuals in a society that treats men and women differently and does not acknowledge the existence of homosexuality and homosexuals.

There are HIV-related stigmas and discriminations that refer to the prejudice, abuse and negativity that is shown towards people living HIV and aids.in many countries with available data, over 50%of people have been said to have shown discriminatory attitude toward people living with HIV and AIDS. These stigmas have made people living with this