Register for the 2024 International Conference on Stigma HERE
The 15th Annual International Conference on Stigma will be held form November 19 to November 21st, 2024. CLICK HERE for more information.
Internalized Stigma & the Environment: Reflections from a Photo Narrative Project
Authors/Contributors: Internalized Stigma Interest Group
The Internalized Stigma Interest Group, of the Howard University annual International Conference on Stigma, is a network of people interested in promoting the awareness and reduction of internalized stigmatization of all types of oppression, especially related to stigmatized health conditions such as HIV, mental health challenges, sickle cell, and substance use challenges. We are activists and academics, people with lived experience, researchers, program workers, clinicians, students, and many other things – sometimes within a single individual! Everyone is welcome. We meet monthly over Zoom video-conference and have an email group. Both are used to exchange ideas and resources to support each other’s varied efforts.
Howard University has been funded, along with partner nonprofit HealthHIV, to address HIV Prevention in Black Women through a new project entitled, “Black Women and HIV- Empowerment through Engagement, Education, and Enrichement.”
CLICK HERE to read the Press Release
Silent No More: The Perspective of Heterosexual Men Living with HIV
by Temitope Creppy, Senior, Howard University
“I was refused treatment because I refused to say I was homosexual.” These are the words of a 50-year-old African-American man diagnosed with HIV who was wrongly discriminated against and denied medical treatment due to stigma that persists in the healthcare environment. Healthcare professionals doubted his relationship with his wife, and people in his daily life still consider him homosexual because he lives with HIV. Unfortunately, across the country this is the reality of a majority of heterosexual men who live with HIV and experience stigma on a day-to-day basis. A Howard University workgroup named Positive EntreEmpowerment Heterosexual Men’s Workgroup and their associated Straight and Positive support group, support heterosexual men living with HIV and combating the stigma they face on a day-to-day basis. The workgroup consists of primarily men from around the country, largely from Cleveland, Ohio, Texas, and Florida ranging from those who have been living with HIV for several decades to recently diagnosed individuals. The group is inclusive of all racial and socioeconomic backgrounds.
Please CLICK HERE or the button to the right to view replay of sessions from the 2023 International Conference on Stigma.
CLICK HERE to apply for Scholarships. Full Travel Scholarship applications have closed. You may still apply for Virtual Scholarships or In-person Registration fees only scholarships.
CLICK HERE to Volunteer. Volunteers can get free admission if they desire. Contact joanne.adelberg@howard.edu to learn how to register for free after you sign up to volunteer.
Stigma is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as: a set of negative and unfair beliefs that a society or group of people have about something. In the more than four decades of the HIV Pandemic, the medical, scientific and communities most impacted by HIV have made incredible strides; moving us from what was once death sentence, to now a manageable chronic condition. That progress has been unequal across race, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status and geographic location due to several factors but one of the primary culprits remains from the earliest days of the HIV pandemic, HIV-related stigma.
We welcome your paintings, drawings, poetry, video, photos, essays, and any other art forms. At least three top selections will receive prizes. CLICK HERE to submit. Deadline October 13, 2023.
We are excited to announce that our program to fight stigma for youth age 18 to 29 years with HIV, “StoryTIME” is still open for new enrollments! Mentorship and leadership and advocacy skills training included. Want to learn more? CLICK HERE
