Living in a Rural Community and Researching HIV and AIDS: Positionality and Ethics

“Okokuqala ngokuya ndandiqala kwakungekho easy”: Feeling empowered to take collective action through community engagement

“…A homeland is defined as a geographical area that, during the Apartheid era, was demarcated for black South Africans to provide prime land for white people and a source of labour for parts of the country. Homelands still tend to be areas that are impoverished more than others (Akhurst, van der Riet, & Sofika, 2018) due to the historic lack of providing infrastructure or resourcing. The Eastern Cape is notably also one of the more impoverished provinces in SA, having high numbers of people who have limited material assets and people who are unemployed (Hendricks, 2008).…”

Unsilencing the silent South African HIV-positive RESEARCHER: An HIV-positive researcher’s reflection on negotiating insider- outsider positionalities whilst conducting a HIV study in eThekwini, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

“…Positionality and insider/outsider identity have been discussed and appropriately used in several HIV studies with researchers identifying as insiders through sex, race, class, gender, language, being carers and family and community members (Akhurst, Van der Riet, M. & Sofika, 2018;Banks, Zuurmond, Ferrand & Kuper 2017;Angotti & Sennott, 2015). However, worth noting is that although the HIV-related stigma still exists, looking for evidence of HIV-infected researchers disclosing their status within HIV studies revealed a deafening silence.…”