HIV/AIDS Stigma in Botswana: Implications for the Dignity of People Living With HIV/AIDS

Discriminating people living with HIV/AIDS not only causes personal suffering and loss of dignity, but it also contributes directly to the spread of the epidemic (Kumar and Kumar, 2007). Research findings presented in this paper are based on a research that was conducted between July 2007 and July 2008 through a series of focus group discussions, informal interviews and key informant interviews with 137 participants from Gaborone and four small villages in the southern region of Botswana. The purpose of the research was to investigate various descriptions used in Botswana to refer to people living with HIV/AIDS and to determine the implications of such descriptions for the dignity of people living with HIV/AIDS. The findings of this research indicate that stigmatising people living with HIV/AIDS challenges respect for others, as it renders an individual unworthy of full inclusion and participation in the community. This paper concludes that since HIV/AIDS related stigma denies people living with HIV/ AIDS basic human rights to dignity, it contradicts Botho (Ubuntu) among Batswana. This in turn challenges the Religious Education educators to specifically emphasise attitudes of tolerance, compassion and caring among learners.Keywords: HIV/AIDS; Stigma; Descriptions; Dignity; BotswanaLWATI: A Journal of Contemporary Research, 8(1), 84-95, 201