SAY NO TO STIGMATIZATION

Tayo, a guy in his early 20s have lived with being stigmatized since he was ten (10). He was out playing football with his friends when he had an accident that claimed his legs. In school, he was always isolated and humiliated by his friends. No one wanted to associate with a boy without legs. Tayo feels bad most times. At home, his siblings do not help his condition as they complain anytime he asks for their assistance. Alone in his room, he cries quietly asking God why He allowed such incident to happen to him. He cursed the day he went out to play football with his friends.

            Bisi on the other hand, a very young girl in her teens has facial deformity and rashes all over her body. All efforts by her parents to help out and make her better proved abortive. As a result of her condition, Bisi has no friends. Many people are scared of associating with her because they are scared of contacting her rashes. Because of this, she is not allowed to go out. Her parents employed teachers in different fields to teach her at home due to the social stigma. 

The rate at which people are being stigmatized is increasing on a daily basis. In a country like Nigeria, stigmatization is now a normal occurrence in our society.

            Erving Goffman said “stigma is a process by which the reaction of others spoils normal identity”. A stigma is a mark of disgrace, a stain or a reproach associated with a particular circumstance, quality or person. Stigma is a feeling of disapproval that people have about a particular illness or ways of behavior.

            From the story above, Tayo and Bisi were victims of stigmatization. People stayed away from them because of their health and physical conditions. This kind of occurrence is common in our society. No one wants to associate themselves with people who have one challenge or another.  This is called social stigma. Social stigma comes in different forms. The most common deals with culture, obesity, gender, race and diseases.

          Stigmatized people feel different and devalued by others. This happens in workplaces, educational settings and even in the family. Stigmatized people need love and care. They should not be isolated, humiliated or made unimportant. 

            A friend of mine usually says, “What will Jesus do?” If Jesus can accept us, show us love and care with all our sins and iniquities. Why can’t we do the same to our fellow man in our society?

            I understand that some people don’t even love themselves. So there is no way love will be extended to other people through them. Most times, out of frustration, shame and humiliation, stigmatized victims tend to commit suicide and isolate themselves totally from people around them. They lose their self worth and self esteem because they have been exposed to a lot of discrimination, scorn and rejection from people and even from their own family and friends. They experience insults, attacks, psychological distress and are unstable emotionally.

      People with ailments or challenges need to be loved. When we show love to them, we help them discover who they really are and even bring out the best in them. Encouraging them, visiting them, spending quality time with them can help them recover fast and be useful to themselves, the society and the nation at large.

            The truth is that, anyone can be a victim at anytime. It is better to treat people the way you would love them to treat you in return. Never look down on anyone because of how they look, their gender, their culture or their health status. There is no permanent condition in life. Stop stigmatization and build a society free of it.