Rethinking Prejudice

My biggest problem with being able to read and write and I think some of you will relate, is that I can’t help but read every piece of text, written on anything – from the fine printed Did You Know? Chappies chewing gum wrapper, to the bold health campaign billboard.

It could even be written in Kiswahili or any other foreign language and I would still attempt to read it.

So this is how I end up reading things that I’d rather not be exposed to such as social media posts stating;

 “People with HIV should just be moved to their own island like naughty kids” like I read last week on twitter.

Honestly, I don’t get mad or annoyed at such bigoted statements anymore. Instead, such utterances leave me numb and maybe slightly sad for human beings including myself; for my simplistic views and logic towards life in general. 

Because my simplistic view is, as long as you are sexually active, consider yourself just one step away from getting an STI including HIV – regardless of whether you’re a young single having fun engaging in casual sex or happily married and (believing) your spouse sexes only with you.

The Secret Love Child

Such narrow-minded public comments make me think about young Swazis like Dudu, Sibusiso, Mbongeni, and Gcebile. Do you know them? Most likely not.

These young men and women and many other nameless youngsters are very much alive and active in our communities and tertiary institutions even though we may be blind to it – teaching at your son’s pre-school, selling you your favorite treat of roasted mealies etc.

You may not know them because they are ‘different’ and often forced to live under society’s radar out of fear. What do they fear you may ask?

Sadly, they fear other human beings – not the ones armed with guns and bombs like ISIS and Boko Haram but humans armed with the mass destructive weapons called ignorance and segregation –very close and dear cousins of (self) hate.

These are the teenagers and young men and women who were born HIV-positive. At their tender age, they might have even faced double or triple tragedies; lost a sibling and/or parent(s) to AIDS. Some of them are easily the heads of their households – left to fend for their younger siblings and still keep themselves alive.

I think of these youngsters when such prejudiced announcements are made because many of them tell tales of feeling scared and lonely at some point in their lives stemming from the rejection and judgment they’ve experienced in instances where they have shared their HIV status at school and in their communities.

There are an estimated 20,000 adolescents currently living with HIV in Swaziland, according to the 2015 UNICEF Profile of Adolescents In Swaziland Report.

Many of them remember feeling safe only when they are amongst others like them, in psychosocial support groups which are facilitated by NGOs such as Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and Baylor College Children’s Clinic amongst others.

These organizations and the donors backing them must be applauded – it’s comforting to know that they reach out to these youngsters in all parts of the country, rural and urban, equipping them with life skills which will help them to be responsible adults and leaders.

But obviously it can never benefit a country to have information shared in silos and preaching only to the converted. It cannot benefit the overall agenda of the HIV response if young (presumable HIV negative) people still publicly reject their peers when they share their stories of living with HIV.

Moralizing Conditions

Zandile for instance, a Swazi, 21 years old then, was once told ‘You don’t say such on twitter’ when she shared her personal experience of dating as a young HIV-positive woman.

The young Swazi lady who ‘attacked’ Zandile, (let’s call her Kamo) added; ‘It’s good that you’re positive but I mean we all have skeletons, it doesn’t mean we tweet like it’s fashionable…start a society rather than educate here…it’s not necessary for a place like twitter…people need to understand that twitter is not a personal diary and some things are to be kept to yourself’.
Quiet dense remarks – I wish I had the space to unpack them all.

Let’s pretend that I don’t know that Kamo is the same young lady who tweets about playing with men’s penises ‘for fun and to check disease’ – her words.

I do wonder though if Kamo gave a thought to Zandile’s life with HIV like maybe what if Zandile, similar to Dudu, Sibusiso, Gcebile and Mbongeni is one of those born with HIV?

So what if Zandile wasn’t infected by her mother but by a boyfriend? If Kamo is a reflection of larger society (which I believe she is), do we realize that our continued moralization of HIV is spreading stigma and discrimination against those of us living with HIV including Dudu, Sibusiso, Gcebile and Mbongeni?

Stigma and Discrimination Rising

The reality is that my belief that Kamo mirrors larger societal attitudes to HIV is actually a documented fact. According to the yet to be publicly released findings of the 2014 Multiple Cluster Indicator Survey, stigma and discrimination against people living with  HIV is not only prevalent but has increased in Swaziland in the last five years. 

The same study reveals that comprehensive knowledge of HIV prevention has dropped quite significantly among young people and that only half of young Swazis aged 15-24 can correctly identify ways of preventing the sexual transmission of HIV.

It’s at this point that I believe that its people like Dudu, Sibusiso, Gcebile and Mbongeni who will help see us to the AIDS-free generation we talk about.

They are, after all, the ‘different’ ones who probably make up 50 percent of the 50 percent of young people who can correctly identify ways of preventing the sexual transmission of HIV. They are also the ones who are constantly conscious of HIV and living a ‘normal’ life with it, albeit within prejudiced environments.

I did say earlier in this narrative that ignorance and intolerance are first line cousins of self-hate and this is reflected in the referenced UNICEF survey where young people are quoted stating that their fear of ‘being stigmatized by people and friends and being seen as unworthy or as a disgrace’ in case their test results are positive, leads them to deciding not to test for HIV.

This puts all young people at risk, both the HIV negative and positive. This probably also explains why an estimated 3,600 of our young ones (15-19) in this country are infected with HIV each year.

This is what the moralization of HIV produces – a half HIV-literate society that distances itself from ‘dirt’.

‘Society forces me to live two lives, - the one where I’m honest about my status within support groups and the one I have to keep completely secret from others. It angers me that HIV is considered such a dirty thing by so many people. It’s partly because I have to live this life of shame and secrecy that I find it so hard to take my ARVs,’ says one of teenager born with HIV.

In my observation ‘normal teenagers’ act out and rebel because…well, because they are teenagers. Now imagine being a teenager who faces perpetual rejection, leaving you frustrated and angry?

The reality is this frustrated and angry teenager could be your beautiful daughter or son’s lover in tertiary – your daughter or son who makes the other 50 percent that doesn’t know how to accurately identify ways of preventing sexual transmission of HIV and thinks HIV-positive people should be shipped to Never-Never.

Our discriminatory attitudes towards people living with HIV are a huge barrier to preventing the spread of HIV and accessing treatment for those in need.