Gender differences in stigma and community support among people living with HIV/AIDS in Thailand

Abstract

This study compares the levels of both stigma and community support as perceived and experienced by Thai men and women living with HIV/AIDS and investigates individual factors, which can explain the gender differences in stigma and community support in Thailand. Data were collected from 412 members of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) support organizations in Bangkok and Northern Thai provinces in 2000. An assisted, self-administered survey instrument was used. The proportion of respondents who reported perceived stigma from people in their communities was significantly higher among male PLWHAs (46 %) than females PLWHAs (34 %). Male PLWHAs were significantly less likely than female PLWHAs to perceive community support (58 % vs. 73 %) and also to experience community support (15 % vs. 26 %). The multivariate analyses presented here indicate that much of the male disadvantage with regard to HIV-related social stigma and community support in Thailand appears largely due to differences between men and women in the sample; several of these differences are also found in the population of male and female PLWHAs throughout Thailand. These differences include the following: (1) Male PLWHAs had on average more visible AIDS symptoms than females, a factor associated not only with more advanced illness but also increased stigma and less community support; (2) male PLWHAs were less likely than females to be widowed, a factor strongly associated with increased community sympathy and support; and (3) male PLWHAs in our sample were more likely than females to reside in Bangkok, which has more hostile community responses toward PLWHAs than Northern Thai provinces.