HIV stigma a reality for prisoners

HIV ribbon
Auxilia Katongomara, Chronicle Reporter
STIGMA and discrimination of people living with HIV is rife within the country’s prisons, a survey has revealed.

According to the Stigma Index Research Findings conducted by the Zimbabwe National Network of People Living with HIV (ZNNP+), HIV positive inmates experience stigma and discrimination from fellow inmates and prison officials.

“All prison inmates (100 percent) reported that they had experienced one or more forms of stigma and discrimination, followed by sex workers 91 percent, men sleeping with men 78 percent, people living with disabilities 65 percent and members of support groups 64 percent,” reads the report.
ZNNP+ executive director, Dagobert Mureriwa told Chronicle that stigma and discrimination was high in prisons because they had remained a closed institution for a long time.

“The prison sector used to be a secluded place for various reasons. It’s only now that it’s open to us as development partners.
Some of these services are not yet available to prison inmates for example condoms are not yet available,” he said.

Mureriwa said self-stigma was rife across the board among key populations.

According to the ZNNP+ report, females are stigmatised more than men through exclusion from social gatherings, religious activities or places of worship and are gossiped about.

Some respondents in the survey reported that they were verbally insulted, harassed and threatened due to their status.

“More males compared to females experienced sexual rejection,” the report says.

ZNNP+ tabled its findings at a workshop held in Bulawayo on Monday.

Walter Ndlovu who spoke on behalf of disabled persons at the workshop said health workers would stigmatise them due to their condition.

“When one goes for testing, they start asking you questions about how a disabled person contracts HIV. This is de-humanising because one would not come back for treatment,” said Ndlovu.

A representative for the Centre for Sexual Health and HIV Research Bathabile Nyathi said sex workers were among those that experience greater discrimination.

“When you go to hospital for testing and they ask about your profession they immediately stereotype you and say what result can you expect when you are a sex worker.

This has resulted in many of us resorting to traditional medication,” said Nyathi.

“When a nurse is doing a check up on you for an STI they use a pen just to show that they  fear for their lives yet they would be putting on even three sets of gloves. When I report rape at a police station they just laugh and say no sex worker can be raped and it drags on until the 72 hours needed for one to get prophylaxis is over. It’s unfair, we are also human.”

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