A/HRC/21/42 human‖. 3 Stigma attaches itself to an attribute, quality or identity that is regarded as ―inferior‖ or ―abnormal‖. Stigma is based on a socially constructed ―us‖ and ―them‖ serving to confirm the ―normalcy‖ of the majority through the devaluation of the ―other‖.4 13. What is considered ―abnormal‖ changes over time and place, while the targets of stigma are always those who do not fit the ―social norm‖. In some instances, stigma is attached to a person‘s social identity, especially in relation to one‘s gender or gender identity, sexual orientation, caste or race. Many ethnic groups experience very pronounced stigma. Stigma is also a common reaction to health conditions such as HIV/AIDS and some forms of disabilities. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights explicitly calls on States to ―adopt measures to address widespread stigmatization of persons on the basis of their health status, such as mental illness, diseases such as leprosy and women who have suffered obstetric fistula‖.5 Indeed, stigma is often closely linked to the body as a site of the ―normal‖ and the ―different‖ and as a vehicle of contagion, especially in terms of sexuality and disease. Furthermore, stigma is frequently attached to activities that are considered ―immoral‖, ―detrimental to society‖ or ―dirty‖, affecting, for instance, sex workers, sanitation workers, prisoners and homeless people. 14. In many instances, stigma is compound, multiple or intersectional, meaning that a single person can possess different attributes to which stigma are attached, such as in the case of an ex-prisoner who is homeless. Individuals experiencing compound stigma are often the ones who are most marginalized and discriminated against. The concept of intersectionality recognizes that individuals have multiple identities, attributes and behaviours, and that the intersections of these multiple aspects give shape to experiences of stigmatization and discrimination. Individuals falling into a particular category do not all inhabit the same social positions. 15. People who are stigmatized can find it is almost impossible to escape the stigma. Similarly, some may experience stigma by association, that is, extending beyond a person with a particular attribute. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has found that people may be discriminated against by being associated with or by being perceived as part of a particular group.6 For example, during her mission to Bangladesh, the Special Rapporteur found that the occupation as ―sweeper‖ is passed down through generations and that people in that occupation feel ―trapped‖ (A/HRC/15/55 and Corr.1, paras. 26, 75 and 76). 16. At a fundamental level, stigma reflects unequal power. Power can be about the ability to define standards of what is ―normal‖ and ―acceptable‖. Stigma can be created to the detriment of some, while being to the ―benefit‖ of others. It is not only those at the top of any societal hierarchy who stigmatize. Stigma is deeply entrenched in any society and plays out within particular groups, as no group has a monolithic identity. Stigma can be deployed wilfully and strategically, and perpetuates patterns of inequality. It is an element of the structural and social dynamics which (re)produce unequal power relations. 17. Power relationships result in the marginalization and exclusion of certain groups and individuals from decision-making processes, access to resources and services, and the ability to shape social life. Stigma supplies the world view for marginalization by ―legitimizing‖ the process of setting up and perpetuating an ―us and them‖ divide, and through the devaluation and dehumanization of those seen as being outside the ―us‖. 3 4 5 6 Erving Goffman, Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity (New York, Simon & Schuster, 1963), p. 5. Ibid., p. 138. General comment No. 20, para. 33. Ibid., para. 16. 5