The first international conference for me to present at in 2023 was in Lagos, Portugal. Sadly, I was not there in person, but presented from my own home study in London, beamed in via Zoom. The occasion was the 21st annual HIV Journeys (XXI Journadas do NEDVIH). The key theme for the 2 day event was to Recover the Future (Recuperar o Futuro). My presentation came under the general theme of mental health and well-being, especially in relation to challenging the impacts of stigmas.
The title given for my presentation was O VIH e o impacto na sexualidade which translates as “HIV and the impact on sexuality“, to which I added a subheading: exploring intersections of stigmas of HIV and AIDS across sexualities and genders. Fortunately, I have published on these and related topics, and spoken to similar themes at various other conferences, not least in 2005 at the International Council of Nursing’s Congress, in Taipei, Taiwan.
Having started working with people living with HIV, firstly as a Catholic priest, in the late 1980s, then in HIV in-patient care, followed by my move into HIV / Sexual Health education (1990), I have seen the impact of stigmas related to both HIV and to AIDS (which I maintain are very different sorts of stigmas), across genders and sexualities), transform over the decades.
Michel Foucault’s (1984) concept of the triple edict is constructed of 3 key phenomena, which he described as “taboo, non-existence, silence”. I am not sure how fixed he was in thinking of those phenomena in that particular order, but, personally, I think the order could be shifted around – and maybe even inter-changed in differing circumstances and environs.
For example, it would seem that in a simple chronological order, something that is considered taboo – something that, in effect, is discredited, or stigmatised – is then not spoken about (i.e. silenced). This very silencing is what then results in the taboo appearing to be non-existent. Or might it even be that something that is shrouded in silence, something not spoken about or discoursed in any way, is then, in itself, considered to be something so taboo as not be to verbalised – like the love that dare not speak its name? Maybe I am playing with semantics, here, and this is all rather a ‘chicken and egg’ phenomenon: i.e. simply pondering which comes first?
The very acts of silencing across a range of stigmatised life-ways (including, but not limited to, genders, minority sexualities, and socially proscribed activities) began long before the days of AIDS! Many life-ways, practices (behaviours) and sexual orientations were stigmatised well before the discovery of HIV, and its illness manifestation in the various AIDS related conditions.
Foucault’s (1984) poignant question, of “why we still burden ourselves today for having once made sex a sin” has resonance across so many sexual practices, minority sexual orientations, even reproductive – and especially non-reproductive – health. This, of course, includes sex for pleasure and various forms of what may be considered “kink”. Such approaches to sexual practices and sexualities (orientations) have pre-existed the days of AIDS then HIV, by millennia, and are rooted firmly in some of the world’s major religions.
So! I thank the organisers for inviting me to present at their important conference. The video will explore matters I have outlined here in more depth,
I welcome feedback on this page and / or the video, either here, in WordPress or on Twitter @David_T_Evans.
If you want to know more about my approach to healthcare professionals being able to talk to clients / patients about matters of sex, sexualities, sexual health and well-being Check out this other WordPress page.
References & resources
Check out David’s full publications and conference presentations, at: https://davidtevans.wordpress.com/ and access many publications at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/David-Evans-48/research
Evans, A.B. and D.T. Evans (2016), Do safeguarding concerns deter young people’s access to condoms? Issues about integrating sexual health services online. Education and Health, Vol. 31. No. 1 (2016): 3 – 8. Available at: http://sheu.org.uk/sheux/EH/eh341ae.pdf
Evans, D.T. [n.d.] HIV Matters! Foundations for practice (with related links inside), cited at: https://express.adobe.com/page/zUbXKIp2vLiIB/ cited on 03/03/2023
Evans, D.T. (2022) Chapter 14: Sexual Health is Public Health, in: Holland, A., Phillips, K., Moseley, M., Joomun, L. (eds)(2022) Fundamentals for Public Health, Sage Publishers
Evans, D.T. (2022) Stopping the stigma and continuing to educate, show support, and raise awareness about HIV and AIDS, World AIDS Day blog, cited at: https://www.gre.ac.uk/articles/public-relations/world-aids-day-2022 cited on 03/03/2023
Evans, D.T. (2021) Professorial Inaugural Lecture, World AIDS Day 2021, Cited at: https://vivatacademiavivantprofessores.wordpress.com/professorial-inauguration-lecture/
Evans, D.T. (2021) University of Greenwich, World AIDS Day 2021 blog, cited at: https://www.gre.ac.uk/articles/public-relations/world-aids-day-2021 cited on 03/03/2023
Evans, D.T. (2019) HIV: if we can achieve normalised testing we’ll be helping to banish the stigma for good, Nursing Standard, first published on-line on 29/11/2019 at https://rcni.com/nursing-standard/opinion/comment/hiv-if-we-can-achieve-normalised-testing-well-be-helping-to-banish-stigma-good-155351
Evans, D.T. (2017) Sexualities, Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social Theory, edited by Bryan S. Turner, Chang Kyung-Sup, Cynthia Epstein, Peter Kivisto, William Outhwaite, J. Michael Ryan. Chichester, UK, John Wiley & Sons Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118430873.est0335
Evans, D.T. (2013) Promoting sexual health and wellbeing: the role of the nurse. Nursing Standard. 28 (10): 53-57 doi: 10.7748/ns2013.11.28.10.53.e7654
Evans, D.T. (2004) Stigma, in Eadie, J. (ed). Sexuality: the essential glossary, London, Arnold; pp. 221-222.
Evans, D.T. (2001) Chapter 10: The ‘stigma’ of sexuality: concealability and course, in: Mason, T., Carlisle, C., Watkins, C., Whitehead, E., (eds) Stigma and Social Exclusion in Healthcare, London and New York, Routledge, pp. 104-116
Evans, D.T., Dukes, M. (2018) Current approaches to HIV prevention, treatment and care, Nursing Standard, doi.: 10.7748/ns.2018.e11046 / https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29923694
Fitzpatrick, M. (2008) Stigma, in British Journal of General Practice, April 2008, p. 294. Cited at: https://bjgp.org/content/bjgp/58/549/294.1.full.pdf cited on 03/03/2023
Foucault, M. (1984) The History of Sexuality, volume 1, London, Penguin
Fowler, N. (2014) AIDS: Don’t Die of Prejudice, London, Biteback Publishing Ltd.
Goffman, E. (1963) Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity, London, Penguin.
Mitchell, K.R., Lewis, R., O’Sullivan, L.F., Fortenberry, J.D. (2021) What is sexual wellbeing and why does it matter for public health? The Lancet Public Health, vol. 6, issue 8, E608-E613, cited at: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(21)00099-2/fulltext cited on: 03/03/2023
Sontag, S. (1991 / 2009) Illness As Metaphor / AIDS As Metaphor, London, Penguin Modern Classics
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