Wives Hide HIV as Stigma Undermines Progress on AIDS

In a busy Mozambique clinic, a 25-year-old mother says she won’t tell her estranged husband she has HIV for fear she will be blamed and beaten.

“Very often here women won’t tell their partners or ex-partners that they’re HIV-infected,” said Sifronia Filipe, an educator at the clinic where the mom is being treated for AIDS. “She is scared he will leave her or will tell the neighborhood and the neighbors will discriminate against her.”