Yerby Fellow Adedotun Ogunbajo, PhD, HCPDS faculty members Kenneth H. Mayer, MD, and Alexander C. Tsai, MD, PhD, and their colleague Phyllis J. Kanki, ScD, have published an editorial in the American Journal of Public Health that puts forth a framework that illustrates and dissects the “interconnected systems of stigma” that are likely serving as impediments to receiving quality HIV health services for sexual minority men (SSM) in sub-Saharan Africa.
“Intersectional stigma, a term coined by Michele Tracy Berger in her book ‘Workable Sisterhood,’ refers to the confluence of multiple stigmatized identities and how they interact with structural context and factors (e.g., cultural norms and practices, social policy) to have an impact on health outcomes. Sexual orientation, HIV status, and socioeconomic status may each affect the health of SMM in sub-Saharan Africa.”