“They look at you like you’re contaminated”: how HIV-related stigma shapes access to care for incarcerated women living with HIV in a Canadian setting

• Published in: Canadian journal of public health 2022-04, Vol.113 (2), p.282-292
• Main Authors: Erickson, Margaret, Shannon, Kate, Ranville, Flo, Pooyak, Sherri, Howard, Terry, McBride, Bronwyn, Pick, Neora, Martin, Ruth Elwood, Krüsi, Andrea
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; AIDS; Canada; Female; Health care; Health care delivery; Health Services Accessibility; HIV; HIV Infections - therapy; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Imprisonment; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Prisoners; Prisons; Privacy; Public Health; Qualitative Research; Research projects; Sexually transmitted diseases; Social Stigma; STD; Stigma; Trauma
• ISSN: 0008-4263; 1920-7476
• DOI: 10.17269/s41997-021-00562-z

Objectives Given the gender disparities in HIV outcomes for women living with HIV (WLWH) who experience incarceration, and the impact of HIV-related stigma on HIV care, this qualitative study investigated how HIV-related stigma within prison settings shapes HIV care for WLWH. Methods Drawing from SHAWNA (Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS: Women’s Longitudinal Needs Assessment), a community-based research project with cisgender and transgender WLWH in Metro Vancouver, peer and community interviewers conducted 19 qualitative interviews (May 2017–February 2018) with recently incarcerated WLWH focused on factors that shape incarceration trajectories. Drawing on socio-ecological frameworks and using participatory analysis, this analysis sought to characterize how HIV-related stigma shapes experiences and access to care for incarcerated WLWH. Results Participants’ responses focused predominately on experiences in provincial correctional facilities and the ways through which HIV-related stigma within correctional settings was linked to access to HIV care. Experiences of HIV-related stigma within prisons led to isolation and discrimination for WLWH which was reinforced through institutional processes, compromised privacy, and uncertainty about confidentiality. Experiences of HIV-related stigma informed decisions for some participants to withhold HIV status from healthcare staff, compromising access to HIV treatment during incarceration. Conclusion Amid ongoing efforts to improve healthcare delivery within Canadian correctional facilities, these findings have important implications for the provision of HIV care for incarcerated WLWH. Culturally safe, trauma-informed programming focused on reducing HIV-related stigma, improved communication regarding medical privacy, and interventions to change processes that compromise privacy is critical to improve healthcare access in correctional facilities.