Abstract

In India the HIV positivity in among IDUs stands at a staggering 7.71. Injecting drug use among female appear to mirror patterns among males, but with greater adverse consequences. They are still a group of population that lacks visibility, and are subjected to multiple layers of stigma because they belong to socially deviant and disenfranchised groups with facing gender-specific inequality and exclusion. The study aimed at understanding the ways in which FIDUs Champai district of Mizoram indigenous minority community, experience stigma and discrimination and the impacts that stigma and discrimination may have on their abilities to access health services. The qualitative study also used content analysis and the health stigma and discrimination framework analysis. The study found several forms of stigma among female injecting drug user that deters their access and utilization of health services and suggested a range of specific gender-specific individual-, social-, and structural-level interventions.

Keywords: Champai, FIDU, PLHIV, stigma, discrimination.