Connected as it is to potent taboos as sex and death, HIV often inspires fear

Connected as it is to potent taboos as sex and death, HIV often inspires fear. There has been a tendency to think of the epidemic as
"a scourge", "a plague" and "a punishment" and to find groups to blame for it: white foreigners, black foreigners, homosexuals, truck
drivers, the young, the promiscuous, the uneducated, etc.
Unclear and distorted information about how HIV is transmitted builds on fear and leads to prejudice and discrimination. For example, people
living with HIV/AIDS may be turned away from jobs, schools, hospitals or social groups. Fear of rejection isolates those vulnerable to HIV/AIDS
and makes it more difficult to access help, information and early treatment. Human rights are violated as people are deprived of their inherent right
to work, have access to health care and medicines, have access to education and be treated with dignity and respect. In these ways, negative
impact of the epidemic is compounded.
To overcome fear and prejudice, public awareness, education and communication are essential !
Public awareness is key to breaking secrecy and silence, challenging wrong assumptions, clearing confusion and motivating people to think differently.
Public awareness is also important to advocate governmental action on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights. Governments need to implement the
International human rights principles and the public needs to foster government accountability. For example, governments should develop
policies and legislation that prohibit discrimination based on one’s HIV status and should take action against employers, educational institutions,
hospitals and other institutions that excude people living with HIV/AIDS. (Guideline 5). Governments should also provide financial and other
support for the prevention of HIV/AIDS in particularly vulnerable populations such as injecting drug users, sex workers and men who have sex with
men. (Guideline 2).
Challenging myths, taboos and prejudices
What causes discrimination? In the context of HIV/AIDS, discrimination appears to be caused mainly by:
Σ•Misguided fears of catching the virus through social contact, usually due to misinformation
Σ•Prejudice about the presumed lack of morality of those who are infected
Σ•Racism, homophobia, classism, sexism
Σ•Laws or social rules that reflect one or more of the above.
Challenging social attitudes or beliefs is not easy and it is important to understand how to approach these sensitive topics publicly in each culture.
The aim has to be to make people reflect on and question their own attitudes, but not to offend or to turn people away.
Exploring sources of prejudice and discrimination
One useful starting point for planning a public awareness campaign targeting youth, is to identify the sources of discrimination in your own
society . You may want to explore these questions:
Σ• Are there beliefs and behaviour norms in your society that generate negative attitudes towards specific groups of young
people or youth in general and that increase their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS.
Beliefs and cultural references can be used to justify prejudice or discrimination in the context of HIV/AIDS. Here are some examples of popular
beliefs that generate prejudice :
"Sex education leads to sexual promiscuity"
"Girls who carry condoms have low morals"
“AIDS is a punishment from God”
"If he's got AIDS he must have done something bad".
Σ• Which false assumptions and beliefs about HIV transmission and AIDS contribute to rejection of and discrimination against
people living with HIV/AIDS and increase the vulnerability of young people ?
Here are some myths about AIDS that are still common today:
“You can catch AIDS from toilet seats”
“People who have AIDS should be in isolated wards”
“You can catch AIDS from insect bites”