What is HIV and AIDS?

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Time Activity
Section 5: Stigma and Discrimination
Activity 5.9: Judging Characters
Activity Outline
Objective: At the end of this activity, participants can identify the effects of stigma on
different people and institutions.
Duration/Timing: 60 minutes
Materials/Resources: Sticky labels or cards with different characters
(character cards), 3 signs (High risk, low risk, no risk).
Before the session, write or draw characters in the community on pieces of
card or paper. Characters include farmer, nurse, teacher, housewife,
businessman and other members of the local community.
10 minutes Divide groups into pairs. Give each of them a character card. Ask them to
discuss their characters. Ask them to discuss:
a) What they do for a living?
b) Your perceived HIV risk status of this person and why
While the group is discussing lay the 3 signs on the floor.
15 minutes Bring the group back together and ask people to feedback on their character.
Ask them to put their character card under one of the signs.
Ask the rest of the group to make any changes and explain why.
20 minutes 1. Discuss with the group what they learnt from this exercise. Key questions
to ask:
How does the community perceive or judge high-risk people?
What words do they use? What are the attitudes behind the words?
What assumptions do we make about people?
How do we judge/misjudge people? How do we resist judging people?
5-10 minutes 2. Ask participants to spend 5-10 minutes alone and reflect about:
What have you done in your life that is culturally unacceptable?
What judgments could be made against you by others?
How would they make you feel?
5-10 minutes 3. Summary - We are all capable of misjudging people based on their
occupation, dress, age or gender. We make assumptions about
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