Defining stigma

HIV-related stigma refers to all unfavourable attitudes, beliefs, and policies directed toward people perceived to have HIV&AIDS as well as toward their significant others and loved ones, close associates, social groups, and communities. 'Patterns of prejudice, which include devaluing, discounting, discrediting, and discriminating against these groups of people, play into and strengthen existing social inequalities- especially those of gender, sexuality, and race-that are at the root of HIV-related stigma'

(Source USAID, January 2006, Can we measure HIV/AIDS related Stigma and Discrimination)

According to key stigma research, diseases associated with the highest degree of stigma share the following common attributes:

• The person with the disease is seen as responsible for having the illness
• The disease is progressive and incurable
• The disease is not well understood among the public
• The symptoms cannot be concealed.

Defining Discrimination

As UNAIDS (2000) suggest, 'when stigma is acted upon, the result is discrimination'. Discrimination consists of actions or omissions that are derived from stigma and directed towards those individuals who are stigmatised.

Discrimination, as defined by UNAIDS (2000) in the Protocol for Identification of Discrimination Against People Living with HIV, refers to any form of arbitrary distinction, exclusion, or restriction affecting a person, usually but not only by virtue of an inherent personal characteristic or perceived belonging to a particular group - in the case of HIV and AIDS, a person's confirmed or suspected HIV-positive status, irrespective of whether or not there is any justification for these measures.