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Do not fill this in! === Stigma === {{main|Discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS}} [[File:Ryan White.jpg|thumb|alt=A teenage male with the hand of another resting on his left shoulder smiling for the camera|[[Ryan White]] became a [[poster child]] for HIV after being expelled from school because he was infected.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ryan-White |title=Ryan White, an American AIDS Victim |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |date=November 7, 2013 |access-date=July 16, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722112020/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ryan-White |archive-date=July 22, 2015 }}</ref>]] AIDS stigma exists around the world in a variety of ways, including [[shunning|ostracism]], [[Social rejection|rejection]], discrimination and avoidance of HIV-infected people; compulsory HIV testing without prior [[consent]] or protection of [[confidentiality]]; violence against HIV-infected individuals or people who are perceived to be infected with HIV; and the [[quarantine]] of HIV-infected individuals.<ref name="UNAIDS2006Ch4"/> Stigma-related violence or the fear of violence prevents many people from seeking HIV testing, returning for their results, or securing treatment, possibly turning what could be a manageable chronic illness into a death sentence and perpetuating the spread of HIV.<ref name="Ogden">{{cite web |vauthors=Ogden J, Nyblade L |website=[[International Center for Research on Women]] |year=2005 |title=Common at its core: HIV-related stigma across contexts |url=http://www.icrw.org/docs/2005_report_stigma_synthesis.pdf |access-date=February 15, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070217044825/http://www.icrw.org/docs/2005_report_stigma_synthesis.pdf |archive-date=February 17, 2007 }}</ref> AIDS stigma has been further divided into the following three categories: * ''Instrumental AIDS stigma''—a reflection of the fear and apprehension that are likely to be associated with any deadly and transmissible illness.<ref name=Herek1999>{{cite journal |vauthors=Herek GM, Capitanio JP |journal=American Behavioral Scientist |year=1999 |url=http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/abs99_sp.pdf |title=AIDS Stigma and sexual prejudice |access-date=March 27, 2006 |volume=42 |issue=7 |pages=1130–47 |doi=10.1177/0002764299042007006 |s2cid=143508360 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060409034211/http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/abs99_sp.pdf |archive-date=April 9, 2006 }}</ref> * ''Symbolic AIDS stigma''—the use of HIV/AIDS to express attitudes toward the social groups or lifestyles perceived to be associated with the disease.<ref name="Herek1999"/> * ''Courtesy AIDS stigma''—stigmatization of people connected to the issue of HIV/AIDS or HIV-positive people.<ref name="Snyder">{{cite journal |vauthors=Snyder M, Omoto AM, Crain AL |title=Punished for their good deeds: stigmatization for AIDS volunteers |journal=American Behavioral Scientist |year=1999 |pages=1175–92 |volume=42 |issue=7 |doi=10.1177/0002764299042007009|s2cid=144929159 }}</ref> Often, AIDS stigma is expressed in conjunction with one or more other stigmas, particularly those associated with homosexuality, [[bisexuality]], [[promiscuity]], prostitution, and [[Intravenous drug use (recreational)|intravenous drug use]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Sharma |first=A.K. |title=Population and society |publisher=Concept Pub. Co. |location=New Delhi |year=2012 |isbn=978-81-8069-818-7 |page=242 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sE-VDhEuxmsC&pg=PA242 |access-date=June 27, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924080127/https://books.google.com/books?id=sE-VDhEuxmsC&pg=PA242 |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> In many [[Developed country|developed countries]], there is [[AIDS and homosexuality|an association between AIDS and homosexuality or bisexuality]], and this association is correlated with higher levels of sexual prejudice, such as [[Homophobia|anti-homosexual]] or [[Biphobia|anti-bisexual]] attitudes.<ref name="Herek2002">{{cite journal |vauthors=Herek GM, Capitanio JP, Widaman KF |title=HIV-related stigma and knowledge in the United States: prevalence and trends, 1991–1999 |journal=American Journal of Public Health |volume=92 |issue=3 |pages=371–77 |date=March 2002 |pmid=11867313 |pmc=1447082 |doi=10.2105/AJPH.92.3.371}}</ref> There is also a perceived association between AIDS and all male-male sexual behavior, including sex between uninfected men.<ref name="Herek1999"/> However, the dominant mode of spread worldwide for HIV remains heterosexual transmission.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=De Cock KM, Jaffe HW, Curran JW |title=The evolving epidemiology of HIV/AIDS |journal=AIDS |volume=26 |issue=10 |pages=1205–13 |date=June 2012 |pmid=22706007 |doi=10.1097/QAD.0b013e328354622a|s2cid=30648421 |doi-access=free }}</ref> In 2003, as part of an overall reform of marriage and population legislation, it became legal for those diagnosed with AIDS to marry in China.<ref>{{cite news |title=China relaxes laws on love and marriage |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/1439403/China-relaxes-laws-on-love-and-marriage.html |access-date=October 24, 2013 |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=August 21, 2003 |last=Spencer |first=Richard |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131108082647/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/1439403/China-relaxes-laws-on-love-and-marriage.html |archive-date=November 8, 2013 }}</ref> In 2013, the [[National Library of Medicine|U.S. National Library of Medicine]] developed a traveling exhibition titled ''Surviving and Thriving: AIDS, Politics, and Culture'';<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/survivingandthriving/index.html |title=Exhibition – Surviving and Thriving – NLM Exhibition Program |website=U.S. National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201111011/https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/survivingandthriving/index.html |archive-date=December 1, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> this covered medical research, the U.S. government's response, and personal stories from people with AIDS, caregivers, and activists.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-confusing-and-at-times-counterproductive-1980s-response-to-the-aids-epidemic-180948611/ |title=The Confusing and At-Times Counterproductive 1980s Response to the AIDS Epidemic |last=Geiling |first=Natasha |work=Smithsonian.com |date=December 4, 2013 |access-date=March 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316152312/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-confusing-and-at-times-counterproductive-1980s-response-to-the-aids-epidemic-180948611/ |archive-date=March 16, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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