leprosy stigma leprosy stigma leprosy stigma is a type of social stigma, a strong negative feeling towards a person with leprosy relating to their moral status in society. it is also referred to as leprosy-related stigma, leprostigma, and stigma of leprosy. since ancient times, leprosy instilled the practice of fear and avoidance in many societies because of the associated physical disfigurement and lack of understanding behind its cause. because of the historical trauma the word "leprosy" invokes, the disease is now referred to as hansen's disease, named after gerhard armauer hansen who discovered mycobacterium leprae, the bacterial agent that causes hansen's disease. those who have suffered from hansen's disease describe the impact of social stigma as far worse than the physical manifestations despite it being only mildly contagious and pharmacologically curable. this sentiment is echoed by weis and ramakrishna, who noted that "the impact of the meaning of the disease may be a greater source of suffering than symptoms of the disease". part of a series ondiscrimination forms institutional structural attributes age disability genetics hair color hair texture height looks size language race / ethnicity nordicism skin color rank caste class religion sex sexual orientation social acephobia arophobia adultism anti-albinism anti-autism anti-drug addicts anti-homelessness anti-intellectualism anti-intersex anti-left handedness anti-masonry aporophobia audism biphobia cronyism elitism ephebiphobia fatphobia gayphobia gerontophobia heterosexism hiv/aids stigma homophobia leprosy stigma lesbophobia misandry misogyny nepotism pedophobia perpetual foreigner pregnancy sectarianism supremacism black white transphobia non-binary transmisogyny trans men vegaphobia xenophobia religious ahmadiyya atheism baháʼí faith buddhism catholicism christianity post–cold war era druze falun gong hinduism persecution untouchability islam persecution jehovah's witnesses judaism persecution 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ethnopluralism gender pay gap gerontocracy gerrymandering ghetto benches internment jewish quota jim crow laws ketuanan melayu article 153 kinder der landstrasse law for protection of the nation mccarthyism msm blood donation restrictions nonpersons numerus clausus (as religious or racial quota) nuremberg laws one-drop rule racial quota racial steering redlining same-sex marriage (laws and issues prohibiting) segregation age racial religious sexual sodomy law state atheism state religion symbole ugly law vergonha voter suppression welsh not white australia policy countermeasures affirmative action anti-discrimination law cultural assimilation cultural pluralism diversity training empowerment environmental justice feminism fighting discrimination hate speech laws by country human rights intersex rights lgbt rights masculism multiculturalism nonviolence racial integration reappropriation self-determination social integration toleration related topics bias dehumanization go back to where you came from oppression internalized power distance prejudice reverse discrimination social exclusion social stigma stereotype threat civil liberties diversity intersectionality multiculturalism polyculturalism political correctness white privilege racial bias in criminal news (us) racism by country reverse racism the talk (us) woke (us) amatonormativity gender roles heteronormativity male privilege masculism second-generation gender bias medical model of disability autism neurodiversity social model of disability allophilia ethnic penalty oikophobia christian privilege religious intolerance eugenics net bias snobbery speciesism police brutality prisoner abuse definition of stigma the word 'stigma' originated from the greeks who used it to "refer to bodily signs designed to expose something unusual and bad about the moral status" of a person. these bodily signs can be thought of as the lesions causing physical deformities in a person's skin in the context of leprosy. american sociologist erving goffman defines "stigma" as an attribute that is deeply discrediting; a stigmatized individual is one who is not accepted and not accorded the respect and regard of his peers, who is disqualified from full social acceptance. it is associated with 1) physical deformities, such as facial plaques, facial palsy, claw hand deformity or footdrop; 2) blemishes of character, such as are associated with alcoholism, drug addition, or leprosarium; or 3) race, nation, social class, sexuality and religion that are thought of as second-class by another group. stigma itself is constructed based on "historical processes, cross-cultural differences, and structural inequalities," which determine social norms. history medieval leper bell leprosy stigma has been associated with the disease for most of its history and has been universal. in western europe, it reached its peak during the middle ages, at a time when the disease was viewed as rendering the person "unclean". many "lazar houses" were built. patients had to carry bells to signal their presence but also to attract charitable gifts. the discovery by hansen in 1873 that leprosy was infectious and transmitted by a bacterium worsened leprosy stigma. it long became associated with sexually transmitted diseases and during the nineteenth century was even thought to be a stage of syphilis. the stigma of the disease was renewed among europeans in the imperial era when they found it was "hyperepidemic in regions that were being colonized." it became associated with poor, developing countries, whose residents were believed by europeans to be inferior in most ways. since the late twentieth century, with efforts by the world health organization to control the disease through distribution of free medication, many international organizations have been working to end the stigma attached to leprosy. they work to educate people and raise awareness of the facts about leprosy, in particular that it is only mildly contagious; some 95% of people are immune to the bacterium that causes it. instances of leprosy stigma stigma surrounding hansen's disease often favored society and sacrificed the individual rights of those afflicted. numerous societies in the middle ages and nineteenth and twentieth centuries required separation of persons with leprosy from the general population. in some countries, stigma against people affected by leprosy is still widespread. japan in japan, the government required segregation of persons with leprosy, a separation that increased the social stigma against them. in medieval times, leprosy patients lived apart, settling around temples or shrines, where they begged for charity from passers-by. starting in 1909, the government required leprosy patients to be hospitalized in the leprosy sanatoria, believing this would prevent transmission of the disease. in some cases, patients were forcibly taken to the sanatoria and their houses were disinfected in the presence of neighbors. their families were also affected by leprosy stigma. some patients attempted suicide. the law lasted until 1996. in kumamoto, japan, a patient with leprosy named matsuo fujimoto was tried on charges of an explosion in 1951 and murder in 1952. during the questioning and trial procedures, he was discriminated against as a leprosy patient. he was convicted and executed in 1962. kumamoto prefecture governor yoshiko shiotani reported in 2003 that a hotel rejected reservations of ex-patients of kikuchi keifuen sanatorium who were on the prefecture's home visit program. many people protested against the hotel. when the patients rejected the apology of the hotel, there were violent protests against the patients. the hotel tore down this building in june 2004. in the japanese drama film sweet bean directed by naomi kawase (2015) the issue of leprosy stigma affecting the character of tokue turns out to be the main subject of the story and leads to a brief description of an existing community of ex-patients. scandinavia in jopling's original report, he quoted hansen as saying "the norwegian state has always handled its leprosy victims humanely". hospitalized patients were free to go out during the day to sell their handwork in the market, and were allowed to have visitors. there was little evidence of stigma. many patients immigrated to the united states, but that was because of seeking to escape poverty. india