Beyond the Disease of Discrimination: A Critical Analysis of HIV-Related Stigma in KTC, Cape Town

The aim of this paper is to explore the nature and dynamics of HIV-related stigma in the KTC with a view to understand the impact of stigma on the lives of HIV+ people and their social environment. This paper draws on qualitative research methods, including focus groups, interviews and participant observation. Research was conducted in KTC, a shack settlement in Cape Town, with a group of home-based carers, and their HIV-positive clients, in 2003 and 2004.  The complex matrix of factors, like socio-economic and gender inequality, which perpetuate HIV-related stigma in the context of KTC, is explored through this paper.  This paper argues that social networks in KTC can play both a constructive and destructive role in facilitating care, and HIV-related stigma respectively. Finally, the research and findings of this paper point to the need to shift away from the notion that stigma is experienced by the individual to a more multifaceted understanding of the impact of HIV-related stigma on the HIV+ individual's social environment.