HIV Stigma and Discrimination in Medical Settings: Stories From African Women in New Zealand

Abstract

Recent changes in New Zealand's HIV and immigration situations have sparked a need to understand the experiences of HIV-positive African newcomers there. Here a narrative lens was brought to a previous qualitative study to harvest stories about discrimination in medical settings in New Zealand, told by four HIV-positive African women. Despite describing positive experiences with specialist HIV providers, their accounts shed light on weaknesses within the health care system regarding the rights and treatment of immigrants living with HIV. Participants reported inappropriate use of universal precautions, violations of confidentiality rights, discriminatory comments about Africans or persons with HIV, and misinformation about HIV transmission. Interventions must include enforcement of The Privacy Law and consistent training and monitoring of employee behavior in health care organizations.

Keywords:

• HIV/AIDS
• stigma
• discrimination
• immigration
• African
• New Zealand

Acknowledgments

I am indebted to Adele, Anna, Jane, and Marie for their willingness to tell their stigma stories to strangers in the hopes of improving services for HIV-positive African immigrants in New Zealand. I am grateful to Dr. Christa Fouche of the University of Auckland for valuable comments on a draft. This project was funded by the Fulbright Senior Specialist Program, Fordham University (New York, United States), and The University of Auckland and Massey University (New Zealand).

Notes

1. The NZ AIDS Foundation and Positive Women are non-profit AIDS Service Organizations

2. See Fouché, Henrickson, Poindexter, Scott, Brown, & Horsford (2011) for methods and findings of the larger qualitative study.

3. All names are false and were chosen by the interviewees.

4. In narrative accounts, the narrator's view is the only view presented, so there is no way to know what the other actors meant or thought. People with a stigmatized disease may be sensitive about how they are treated, and it is possible that some of the behaviors are linked to factors other than HIV, such as general bad practice, or prejudice based on race, gender, origin, or age.