DIRTY, DISEASED AND UNDESERVING - THE POSITIONING OF HIV-POSITIVE WOMEN

The discursive construction of HIV/AIDS associates deviance and diseas e. Women living with HIV/AIDS, in particular, have been positioned as a source or potential source of infection, and have attracted guilt an d blame: in becoming 'diseased' they have failed in their appropriate roles as carers and nurturers, responsible for the next generation. Ba sed on in-depth interviews with 27 women living with HIV/AIDS this pap er focuses on three ways of positioning HIV positive women: through di scrimination on the part of medical professionals; through internalisa tion of stigmatisation; and through multiple stigmatisation of women w ho are or have been illicit drug users or sex workers. The implication s of stigmatisation are discussed in relation to accessing health care and support. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd