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ABSTRACT
HIV-related stigma harms People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), families, and even communities of memory. This study examines HIV-related stigma, specifically how PLWHA make sense of their attributional response to the experience of HIV/AIDS-related stigma. Sensemaking is explored in the face of HIV/AIDS-related stigma to determine whether participants’ attributional responses partly corroborate the widespread views of disempowerment associated with stigma. PLWHA attribute HIV-related stigma to ignorance, lack of sympathy and lack of empathy. Often, PLWHA portray both their community and government as morally mute or ineffective in handling HIV/AIDS-related stigma. PLWHA's sensemaking themes derive from social injustice and patriarchal bias, which leads to control and domination. The explanations proffer sensemaking implications that might engender attributional responses with transformative empowerment consequences.