Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Language, identity and HIV: why do we keep talking about the responsible and responsive use of language? Language matters

2012; International AIDS Society; Volume: 15; Issue: S2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.7448/ias.15.4.17990

1758-2652

Sophie Dilmitis, Olive Edwards, Beri Hull, Shari Margolese, Naisiadet Mason, Angelina Namiba, Moono Nyambe, Susan J. Paxton, Silvia Petretti, Gracia Violeta Ross, Alice Welbourn, Anna Zakowics,

Interpreting and Communication in Healthcare

Language matters. It impacts on how we think about ourselves, as individuals within our families and within society. As advocates and activists, we constantly use language as a tool to effect change. People living with HIV have been critical in shaping this language over the last 30 years and still play a central role in ensuring that new discourse in the HIV field does not stigmatize, but rather that it catalyzes empowerment for our community members. In this annotation, we seek to shift the language used in relation to ourselves, our medical condition, our bodies, our identities and the events we face, towards something more life‐enhancing, self‐affirming and positive in outlook.