Experiencing stigma and discrimination can be very painful. Try not to bottle up your feelings about these experiences.

First of all, don’t blame yourself.  Remind yourself that what you’ve experienced is wrong. Many people find that this is a first step to constructively dealing with their experiences.

If you can, talk to somebody close to you that you trust, or make contact with an HIV support organisation so that you can safely talk through your experiences and feelings.

Some people use their experiences and get involved in organisations dedicated to fighting stigma and discrimination. Writing about your experiences can also help. NAM has a website, www.namlife.org, that includes first-hand accounts from people with HIV about their experiences and feelings. You might want to consider writing something for it. If you think you’d like to do this then email info@nam.org.uk.

If you are harassed or assaulted because you have HIV, because of your ethnicity or any other characteristic or because you’re gay, then you might want to contact the police. This can be an unsettling experience and at the very least is likely to cause inconvenience and force you to focus on your experiences. The police now give these sorts of incidents high priority and police forces have community safety units dedicated to preventing and investigating this sort of crime.It’s good to know that your local HIV organisation will help you do this if need be.

Discrimination against people with HIV is taken very seriously by the government, its agencies and organisations that work for people with HIV. There’s an important law called the Disability Discrimination Act (usually just shortened to DDA) that was changed in 2005 to make it illegal to discriminate against people with HIV in some key areas. These include employment, education, housing and the provision of goods and services.

But despite this law people with HIV do still experience discrimination.

Even if you feel that you are alone or don’t feel that you can tell anybody close to you that you have HIV, there are organisations that can make a real difference to the lives of people with HIV, and can help you to tackle stigma and discrimination.

Discrimination can happen in the family and community where the key protections of the DDA don’t apply. So it’s helpful to have some information on how you can deal with this should it arise.