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

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. “Stigma, Discrimination and Living with HIV/AIDS: A Cross-Cultural Perspective,” focuses on the lived stigma and discrimination experiences of PLWHA and how they attempt to deal with these in countries, such as Australia, China, Colombia, India, South Africa, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Within the context of these country cultures, layered stigma as experienced by PLWHA already stigmatized on account of their gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, and other infections, such as Hepatitis C, are highlighted in the book. HIV/AIDS stigma arises from society’s perception of the affected individuals’ deviation from socially accepted standards of “normality.” PLWHA are labeled as being “immoral,” “promiscuous,” or “perverted.” They are, therefore, discriminated against in these settings because they are perceived to be “contagious,” and associated with “death.” The 415 page book “Stigma, Discrimination and Living with HIV/AIDS: A Cross-Cultural Perspective,” is divided into 3 parts preceded by an introductory chapter by the editor, which provides a synopsis of each of the 23 chapters of the book. Each of these chapters is written by one or more researchers who have used mainly qualitative research methods to gather real life data of the lived stigma and discrimination experiences of PLWHA in different countries and geographic regions of the world.