Respecting people with HIV is good for society

Respecting people with HIV is good for society

David and Joyce Djaelani Gordon, Contributors, Jakarta

Agitated fear, prejudice and misunderstandings fuel a wildfire of
stigma and discrimination toward many who are living with HIV and
AIDS today. Many are dismissed as "throwaway people", pointed to
and labeled sex workers or prostitutes, drug abusers or junkies,
criminals, gay, unfaithful, immoral, the untouchables.

The majority of people living with HIV or AIDS today feel as
though they are outcasts from society and their families. Most
live lives of secret desperation, forced into a shadowed
existence of lies, half-truths, deception and shame at the
deepest level possible}. When "escape" from stigma and
discrimination is believed not possible, and human rights are
shattered, the "reverse" of human wrongs is often seen as
justified.

Often "we" sit in judgment of "them", sentencing them to live
their lives within a jail, one within themselves, without bars,
yet nevertheless a prison. Often "we" give "them" mocked
acceptance, a false sense of equality and freedom, and pretend
love and compassion.

But, mostly, the reality shown by the general population
reveals that most do not want to eat or drink from their
utensils, work beside them or have them marrying into their
families. Time passes, and rather than time healing, we find it
fosters separation, increases resentment and expands the crisis
of loneliness.

What could happen if the stigma and discrimination is
reversed? What happens when the target targets you, the
community, and society?

What happens when rage overcomes reason, or one of these
people says, in frustration and confusion at the lot dealt to
them, "I don't care"?

What happens when pain becomes overwhelmingly unbearable --
and "revenge" gladdens the senses? What happens when "they"
decide to strike out against those who stigmatize or
discriminate?

We, as a nation, must realize we no longer speak in terms of
just an isolated number of people; we now speak about hundreds of
thousands with HIV and AIDS, reaching across the entire
archipelago, from Sabang to Merauke. The "groups" known to be
most at risk are sex workers (both female and male), drug abusers
and addicts, criminals, and "young people" (there are 60 million
young people between the ages of 16 to 28 across the nation).

These individuals and groups often have a variety of
attitudinal, behavioral, authoritarian, social and living
difficulties -- just by the nature of who they are and what they
do. Then add in HIV, and living with HIV, and then add the
finality of death from AIDS. Imagine then how easy it would be to
become bitter, resentful, contemptuous, angry and revengeful?

Reverse stigma and discrimination is easily "cloaked" for it
is not possible to distinguish or diagnose someone with HIV or
AIDS (without some kind of disclosure, a specific blood test, or
until they become symptomatic or seriously ill) so individuals
may, without notice or warning, retaliate over long periods of
time without anyone noticing irregular or harmful behavior.

Also, it is rarely possible to comprehend the mental or
emotional condition of someone infected with HIV or AIDS without
being in close relationship with them.

Consider drug abusers and addicts, particularly those who use
needles, who knowingly, for their own purposes and reasons, share
needles with others. Addicts are often emotionally temperamental
and unstable, easily brought to high levels of frustration and
anger, and often act-out aggressively. Reports from the Center of
AIDS Prevention Studies of John Hopkins University showed that
40 percent of HIV-positive injecting drug users visiting AIDS
clinics and institutions have personality disorders, including
antisocial and borderline behaviors.

There are approximately three million drug abusers and one
million addicts across the nation. The drug of choice, throughout
the nation, is still putaw (low-grade heroin); shabu
{methamphetamine} rates second. Consumption of alcohol is rising
rapidly. Both putaw and shabu are injectable, and drug users are
sexually very active in the early stages of using.

Consider a criminal, someone who possesses a criminal
mentality, who knows he/she is infected with HIV or AIDS, knows
there is just some short time left until they will die, and is
hostile toward humanity. Someone, who for their own personal
reasons, "wants to get even", to take "revenge upon others".

Consider millions of young males and females, many who display
risky behavior, which heightens the never-ending-search for fun
and excitement, which encourages "drugs, sex, & rock n roll".
Consider many young people who face the confusion and
vulnerability stemming from teenage years, peer pressure, or have
social and family problems that lead to "acting-out". Many
thousands of young people are already infected, many thousands,
then hundreds of thousands, will become infected in the coming
years.

Many young people with HIV/AIDS become distraught, believing
they have been cheated out of life, and give in to the belief
that their life is condemned and dammed, developing a "I don't
care" attitude and way of life.

Numerous will "try" or "pretend" to live a normal life, go to
school or work, have girlfriends or boyfriends, get engaged, get
married, have children, and never tell their partners they are
infected -- until they get sick, or are about to die. All this
occurs frequently with young people. These are some of the
reasons why HIV infection rates continue to soar.

This is not scaremongering, or meant to engender an attitude
of us looking warily at HIV positive people around us for
harboring the potential to "strike back" at us.

We must realize that stigma and discrimination are a double-
edged sword. All of us will bear the consequences of our voices
and actions, unless we consciously minimize discrimination.

If we do not, there could be catastrophic consequences to the
general population, to the health and welfare of the nation than
most may imagine. It is our common responsibility to begin to
take a bold step within our capacity to help minimize stigma and
discrimination against those in our society.

The writers are the directors of Yayasan Harapan Permata Hati
Kita, a rehabilitation center for recovering drug addicts.