Socio-Demographic Factors influencing HIV/AIDS Stigmatization and Discrimination amongst Women in Lagos State

Abstract

The study empirically examines socio-demographic factors influencing HIV/AIDS Stigmatization and Discrimination amongst women in Lagos State. Two hundred and thirty respondents (Female respondents only) who have positive status of HIV/AIDS were interviewed through administration of questionnaires in Lagos State, Nigeria. Frequency tables and regression model were used in the analysis of data collected from the field. The two hypotheses were tested in this study. However, socio-demographic factors which include age and educational attainment indicated a negative influence on HIV/AIDS stigmatization and discrimination amongst sampled women in the study. In addition, the result from Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) clarified that those women who disclose their HIV/AIDS status are gossiped about, verbally harassed and neglected by the Nigerian society. The study presents evidence that once a woman discloses her HIV/AIDS status, she is immediately stigmatized by the society and then discriminated. The paper thus recommends that any form of gossip, verbal harassment and neglect should be stopped against women, who disclosed their HIV/AIDS status to the Nigerian society. Lastly, women with HIV/AIDS positive should apply their educational skills in taking all drugs that will foster their long-living in Nigerian society.

Key Words: Stigmatization, Discrimination, HIV/AIDS Status, ANOVA and Socio-demographic factors.