A new project to count and classify individual stories of HIV stigma is beginning to paint a portrait of discrimination around the world. Preliminary research in Kenya, India, Lesotho and Trinidad and Tobago found that 17 percent of respondents said they’d received poor medical treatment based on their status; 35 percent felt sexually rejected because of it; 16 percent said they’d felt excluded from social gatherings; and 30 percent said they felt their families had suffered from discrimination. The project is sponsored by UNAIDS, the International Planned Parenthood Foundation (IPPF), World YWCA and the International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS (ICW).
Beth Benne, RN, is HIV negative, but
the virus has impacted her life. She currently supervises a biannual HIV/AIDS awareness week as
the director of the student health center at Pierce College, a
community commuter school in Woodland Hills, California.
Woman of the Month is supported by exclusive advertising from Gilead.
Overheard in the Women's Forum
"I recently met a guy who is negative. I did tell him about my status and he decided to kiss me anyway (we didn't go further than that). But a day later, he called and said that he actually had a mouth ulcer that time when we kissed and he was very worried. Asked if he can get the virus from me that way. For that moment, I felt so insulted and yet I felt so bad. It was my first time having a contact with a "negative" guy."
