Women Living with HIV in Zimbabwe: Their Stigma-Related Emotional Life and Sense of Self

Limkile Mpofu (), Elias Mpofu () and Azwihangwisi H. Mavhandu-Mudzusi
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Limkile Mpofu: Department of Psychology, College of Human Sciences, University of South Africa (UNISA), Pretoria 0002, South Africa
Elias Mpofu: Department of Rehabilitation and Health Services, University of North Texas, Denton, TX 76203, USA
Azwihangwisi H. Mavhandu-Mudzusi: Department of Social Sciences, College of Human Sciences, University of South Africa, Pretoria 0002, South Africa

IJERPH, 2025, vol. 22, issue 3, 1-10

Abstract: This study explored women living with HIV (WLHIV)’s stigma-related emotional life and sense of self in a rural Zimbabwean setting. The objective of this study was to understand the sense of stigma in the emotional lives and self-perception of women living with HIV in rural Zimbabwe. The participants were a purposive sample of 20 rural women living with HIV. Their age ranged from 20 to 65 years old. WLHIV completed semi-structured individual interviews on their emotions and sense of life. The interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) revealed that these rural women living with HIV endure humiliation and isolation, leading them to feeling hopeless. Their society (significant others) perceived them as burdensome social others from which little could be expected. These women experience this sense of “otherness” that represents them as social outcasts, which results in a deep sense of social isolation and loneliness, worthlessness, withdrawal, and hopelessness. The women self-perceived themselves to be constantly managing their sense of dehumanization and being stereotyped as primarily with an identity defined by disease or illness by society. The findings suggest a need for the development and implementation of support programs for building healthy self-identities for women living with HIV. Such programs would focus on strategies that counteract societal and self-stigmatization living with HIV and AIDS for full community inclusion.

Keywords: HIV-positive rural women; interpretive phenomenological analysis; stigma and discrimination; emotional life; sense of self (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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