Book Review: Stigma, Discrimination, and Living with HIV/AIDS: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

Abstract

Stigma, a socially constructed process that categorizes people into “them” and “us” on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, and disease, among others, leads to discrimination against the stigmatized individuals or groups who are devalued in comparison to those in the mainstream. HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination are issues of great concern because of their ramifications on access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care, and support for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination have been recognized globally and many reports of these have appeared in the biomedical literature. However, “Stigma, Discrimination and Living with HIV/AIDS: A Cross-Cultural Perspective,” edited by Pranee Liamputtong with 43 contributors, is the first book, which attempts to collate in one volume, results from empirical research on the subject matter from a cross-cultural and global perspective. Pranee Liamputtong, who holds a personal chair in public health at the School of Public Health at La Trobe University in Melbourne, VIC, Australia, builds on her extensive research work on the cultural and social influences on reproductive health to address HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination from broad and diversified cultural, geographic, and sub-group perspectives. Chapters 19–23 of “Stigma, Discrimination and Living with HIV/AIDS: A Cross-Cultural Perspective” make up Part 3 of the book. This part of the book describes how PLWHA deal with and attempt to manage stigma and discrimination. Strategies described here include membership of support groups, such as associations of PLWHA.