A humiliating defeat: Lessons in eradicating stigma ignored

Submitted by Elizabeth Kiago (ekiago) about 8 months ago

It’s the end of the day in the office and time to go home, as I switch the office lights off I feel mortified at the way staff have treated one of their own.

I wonder: Didn’t I teach them better? What does not stigmatizing or not discriminating against another mean? Has gossip and innuendo gotten the better of them?

Or is it because he is the cook and they will not associate with him or the food he cooks because of his scratching? How did this escape me, why didn’t the other team members give me an inkling of why patrons had reduced at the canteen?

I am in charge yet I only found out about an incident of discrimination against one of my staff members later on the day that it happened and I am humiliated on his behalf.

It is no excuse, it’s happened under my watch. Yet I am mortified that human beings can be so vicious towards another, even their superior at work.

Isn’t there any show of dignity or compassion for him? No, instead there is a rush judgment, phrases like “He must have this and that”, “He must be very sick” and "He’s got it”.

And this morning when we met as he left to get his food handling certificate I could see the humiliation and pain in his eyes. Disbelief that anything like this could befall his world. He who is a model employee, a colleague, a friend to many. He is my team member and a supervisor in my department. I feel I should have done better to stand up for him.

I hope he does return, for I can make amends on his behalf before all the staff and reeducate them on what stigma means and how it wounds a soul so deeply. What would they feel if they were in his shoes? Could they withstand the same meanness and humiliation displayed to him? I think not.

Yes he shouldn’t have scratched and allowed the itching to go on for this long and especially while serving in the kitchen. But surely it could be anything: a mosquito bite, eczema, dermatitis...anything or nothing. Still no one should judge him.

I’ll talk to him and ask him to see a doctor and have it checked. And he need not even tell me what the matter is, just get himself healed and better again.

But how shall we treat his wounded spirit? How do we remove the stigma he has felt labeled upon him. And if he doesn’t return, how do I stay on as the wellness coordinator if I could not help one member of staff avoid the stigma and discrimination we have tried to eradicate and instill in our staff in our programs all this time?

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I'm glad to report he did come back the next day and has agreed to take some leave and get himself checked and treated and heal his spirit too. We can take up the mending of the fences when he returns; meanwhile I am searching for how best to conduct a much needed destigmatization seminar for our staff.

Keywords: discrimination HIV/AIDS Stigma workplace

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