The aim of this book is to encourage individuals, groups and communities to think and talk about their own experiences of rejection, secrecy, isolation and fear as a result of stigma, and then to develop ways to overcome it. According to the authors, some anti-stigma programmes rely on the provision of information about HIV/AIDS, but on its own, this is not enough. In addition to receiving information, communities need to examine how stigma affects them in their particular contexts and what responses are possible and appropriate for their situation. This book presents responses and strategies formulated at a local level for tackling barriers to openness about HIV/AIDS and sexual health, focusing on communities' own narratives and proposed solutions.

The content of this book comes from the experiences of two communities in South Africa, one near Durban and the other in a rural area near Empangeni. The lessons from these two communities are meant to be a starting point for other communities to begin to discuss and critically analyse their own stories of stigma and its causes.