Understanding and Challenging Stigma toward ... - Pact Cambodia

Coping with
Stigma
Example Responses:
The examples below are not the required answers, and you are not expected to read them
out loud. They are included to illustrate the type of responses expected and can help you
identify issues you may want to raise, if they are not raised by participants. However, you
should let each group come up with their own ideas. Remember: there are no right and
wrong answers.
Good eye contact with his father. Strong voice. Spoke with
confidence.
Didn’t criticize the stigmatizer. Simply asserted his rights clearly
and simply.
Good arguments: “I like myself the way I am.”
“This is my nature and I can’t change.”
Did not apologize for his behavior. Did not allow
his father to dominate or bully him.
Was not afraid to disagree with his father. Did not
give up and insisted on being treated fairly.
Helped his father (stigmatizer) get a sense of how
it feels to be treated like this.
After a few pairs perform the same scenario, ask other participants if they have
a better way of challenging the stigmatizer and let them take over the MSM’s
role in the play and show their approach. After each new play, ask, “What
made a difference?” (e.g., good arguments, strong voice level, body language,
confidence, etc).
Then repeat the same process for other stigmatizing situations raised in the
brainstorm in Step 2.
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