Abelin M, Kiperman G, Reboredo G, Indyk D; International Conference on AIDS.
Int Conf AIDS. 2002 Jul 7-12; 14: abstract no. TuPeG5596.
Columbia University, New York, United States
BACKGROUND: It is widely acknowledged that HIV-related stigmatization is influential in peoples' HIV testing and treatment practices. This study contributes to a growing anthropological literature that attempts to understand how the prevalence and experience of HIV-related stigmatization differs according to class, gender, and national location. Specifically, this study considers whether and how cultural legacies of political authoritarianism in Argentina continue to shape the contemporary "geography of blame" (Farmer 1992) with respect to HIV/AIDS. METHODS: Ethnographic research methods were used, including participant observation and 31 open-ended interviews with HIV+ women at two public hospitals in the Greater Buenos Aires area, one serving a very disenfranchised population and the other a more middle-class population. RESULTS: Women's narratives suggest that political logics circulating during the dictatorship period to justify and/or rationalize the terror-producing disappearances between 1976-1983 are redeployed and transferred to the realm of HIV/AIDS. This political logic appears in speculations about the presumed guilt of those who are rumored to have HIV, often heard in the phrase "algo habran hecho..." or 'they must be guilty of something' which was regularly heard during the dictatorship to explain the disappearances without risking a critical stance. CONCLUSIONS: This historical configuration of stigma, where the verdict of moral guilt is always already established, may intensify fear of "social death" associated with disclosure to self and others. Responses to this stigmatizing logic differed by class, gender, and geographical location and degree of institutional support. Further research will consider how the intensity of these discourses and health-related responses to them fluctuate in relation to current levels of political and economic uncertainty. This research is funded in part by an AITRP NIH/FIC.
Publication Types:
Keywords:
- Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
- Argentina
- Female
- Gender Identity
- Geography
- HIV Infections
- HIV Seropositivity
- Humans
- Shame
- Social Perception
- Stereotyping
Other ID:
UI: 102259048
From Meeting Abstracts