Launch of GNP+ PLHIV Stigma Index Advocacy Toolkit

PLHIV Stigma Index Advocacy Toolkit – People Living with HIV Stigma Index

A toolkit to equip networks of people living with HIV to take forward advocacy actions based on key findings and recommendations from PLHIV Stigma Index Reports

The People Living with HIV (PLHIV) Stigma Index is a standardised tool to gather evidence on how stigma and discrimination impact the lives of people living with HIV. It was developed to provide much-needed data and evidence that could be used to advocate for the rights of people living with HIV. Importantly, it was designed to be used by and for people living with HIV and was created to reflect and support the Greater Involvement of People living with HIV and AIDS (GIPA) principle, where PLHIV networks are empowered to lead the whole implementation of the study. The updated and strengthened PLHIV Stigma Index 2.0 (2018) reflects the latest context in the HIV response globally and has now been completed in 10 countries as per March 2020.

For over a decade, the PLHIV Stigma Index has been a catalyst for change in over 100 countries around the world and the results and recommendations used in evidence-driven advocacy at all levels of the HIV response. National networks of people living with HIV are using Stigma Index Reports creatively in a variety of ways – as a tool for fundraising, community education and anti-stigma campaigns.

PLHIV Stigma Index Reports are already guiding changes to HIV service delivery and informing national health legislation and treatment policy. However, to date, they have not been used as fully as they could have been to challenge wider societal and legal norms or to tackle institutionalised discrimination in the areas of education, workplaces or the justice system.

Why this advocacy toolkit?

The purpose of this advocacy toolkit is to complement and strengthen ongoing work by supporting community advocates to develop advocacy strategies that target discriminatory policies and practices head-on, take ownership of the advocacy agenda, demand their rights and hold those in power to account.

Specifically, the toolkit has been developed to:

● Provide a set of practical tools that support community advocates to take concrete steps to turn the data and key findings of PLHIV Stigma Index Reports into practical advocacy actions

● Help networks of people living with HIV
to identify and take forward advocacy actions based on the key findings and recommendations from PLHIV Stigma Index Reports

● Support Stigma Index teams who are at the data analysis stage of the project or who are in the process of developing reports

● Build the capacity of advocates to use data on stigma to make a case for change

The toolkit can be downloaded here