The impact of HIV-related stigma on children orphaned by AIDS or living with seropositive caregivers

ABSTRACT

This paper analyses the effects of HIV-related stigma on children made orphans by AIDS and other children made vulnerable by HIV. HIV-related stigma is usually identified as the process of devaluation of people living with, affected by, or associated with HIV. The vast majority of children orphaned by AIDS or made vulnerable by HIV are ostracized, discriminated against, and isolated due to the shame associated with this disease. The authors emphasize how stigmatization makes it much more difficult to protect the basic rights of these children and add that many of them are at higher risk of being exploited by criminal gangs or becoming victims of abuse, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Consequently, the authors suggest to promote a strategy that draws orphans and other children made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS into social protection schemes and programmes.

KEYWORDS:

• HIV
• stigma
• risk
• vulnerability
• AIDS-related orphanhood

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Bruno Meini

Bruno Meini is a member of the Observatory and Methods for Health, Department of Sociology and Social Research, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy. His research interests lie in the areas of policing, crime prevention, penology and social dimensions of HIV and crime and security and safety related issues. He holds a doctorate in Criminology from the University of Bologna, a master of arts in criminal justice from the School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University, and a master’s degree in research methods in the social sciences from the University of Florence. In December 2016 he published an original paper entitled ‘Domestic violence in Italy: an epidemic which demolishes the myth of the Italian traditional family’ in a volume that examines the history and scope of domestic violence and how it is being addressed, repressed or ignored in thirteen different countries [Meini, B. (2016). Domestic violence in Italy: an epidemic which demolishes the myth of the Italian traditional family. In D. Bruns & J. Schroeder (Eds.), Domestic violence in international context (pp. 90–106). London: Routledge].

Mara Tognetti Bordogna

Mara Tognetti Bordogna is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Research at the University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy, and President of the Degree Course in Social Work. She also edits the book series on Sciences and Health published by the Italian publisher FrancoAngeli of Milan. Her research and teaching interests on social and health politics include health systems, complementary medicine, health inequality and pharmaceuticalisation. In 2017 she and her two colleagues published a significant article – in Health Policy [Sarti S., Terraneo, M., & Tognetti Bordogna, M. (2017). Poverty and private health expenditures in Italian households during the recent crisis. Health Policy, 121 (3), 307–314].