In the short film, Outcast, 16 year old Ashley faces discrimination that mirrors the stigma of having HIV/AIDS in Africa. Certain cultural groups of people in Liberia see AIDS as a sign of the devil within them. Therefore, they reject and outcast anyone who has HIV/AIDS for the fear that they might get this deadly disease. There aren't many places in Africa that have facilities to inform them of how HIV is actually contracted. This lack of knowledge is most likely the reason why these stigmas and ways of discrimination have occurred.
Ashley is an American teenager who just wants to be like everyone else. Sadly, because of her illness she is no longer seen as "friend material." It's not her fault she got HIV, nor does she think she deserves to be treated this way. She was raped by a strange man she had never met, but it is always the girls fault for not defending herself. In Liberia and many other countries in Africa, this is usually the case when woman have been raped during the civil war that occurred for 14 years. The blame falls on the women and they think it's all their fault. In some cases, those women who have been raped will never find a man to love or marry them.
In America, we have the technology and the facilities to treat HIV and slow down HIV. We also have a pill called Pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEp, that a person who doesn't have HIV but is at a significant risk of getting the disease can take everyday. All around the world people are affected by the HIV/AIDS disease. There are stigmas and discrimination for these people all around the world but they come in many different ways. All though the stigmas and forms of discrimination are not to this degree in America, it's still happening in most parts of Africa. Now if this was someone you knew, what would you do?
Ashley is an American teenager who just wants to be like everyone else. Sadly, because of her illness she is no longer seen as "friend material." It's not her fault she got HIV, nor does she think she deserves to be treated this way. She was raped by a strange man she had never met, but it is always the girls fault for not defending herself. In Liberia and many other countries in Africa, this is usually the case when woman have been raped during the civil war that occurred for 14 years. The blame falls on the women and they think it's all their fault. In some cases, those women who have been raped will never find a man to love or marry them.
In America, we have the technology and the facilities to treat HIV and slow down HIV. We also have a pill called Pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEp, that a person who doesn't have HIV but is at a significant risk of getting the disease can take everyday. All around the world people are affected by the HIV/AIDS disease. There are stigmas and discrimination for these people all around the world but they come in many different ways. All though the stigmas and forms of discrimination are not to this degree in America, it's still happening in most parts of Africa. Now if this was someone you knew, what would you do?