are you positive about prejudice?
Why? It might be that they haven't found the right people to ask. It might be that we self-censor our experiences as being 'par for the course'. Or it
might be that fear of stigma is for us the problem more than overt prejudice,
so we anticipate it and keep our heads down just in case. I'd like to
think that these days there are at least better levels of awareness and
understanding of HIV as one of the least infectious diseases around, compared
with the 1980s.
It would also be a pity if campaigning work on stigma takes the approach
of talking to everyone as if the whole population was HIV negative, and
asking them to be nice to us. That would bring the 'unintended outcome'
of reinforcing the idea that we don't exist or don't matter - exactly
what work to reduce stigma and prejudice is supposed to be trying to combat.
Also, isn't reducing prejudice something that people with HIV should have
a strong voice in, rather than others doing it on our behalf? We've waited
16 years for some decent public awareness work to be done in the UK. I
reckon we could wait a little longer to make sure it's done right, and
doesn't backfire on us.
After all, it's us who have to live with the day-to-day reality of HIV
and Aids.
Jack
Summerside is Head of 'Living well with HIV' Services at the Terrence
Higgins Trust and in private capacity is a board member of the European
Network of People with HIV & Aids.
page 3 of 3
contents
of issue 73/74
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