Section 2:
What is stigma?

Stigma is ‘a social process that leads to the marginalisation of individuals or groups’.  Stigma is driven by norms, stereotypes and an imbalance of power, which can lead to the use of negative language, labelling, exclusion and discrimination.  People with disabilities are often subject to stigma, which is a critical barrier to disability inclusion. ^{Source: PubMed}

As a social process, stigma changes across contexts and can be intersectional, affecting people with intersecting identities in different ways.

Discrimination is the unjust or prejudicial treatment of a group of people on the grounds of their individual characteristics, such as disability, race or age. This is sometimes called ‘enacted stigma’. Discrimination ‘violates the principles of equality of rights and respect for human dignity’. ^{Source: United Nations}

Discriminatory behaviour and actions can sometimes be easier to understand and capture than stigma, and can be followed up, for example, with consequential legal action (such as when a person with a disability loses their job on the grounds of their disability, as most employment laws require reasonable accommodations in the workplace).

Negative stereotyping refers to widely held negative beliefs about a group of people. For example: ‘People with disabilities are helpless,’ ‘people, with disabilities cannot work,’ or ‘people with disabilities cannot get married.’ ^{Source: Centre Disability Support}

Stereotypes can lead to the exclusion of people with disabilities from relationships, community involvement and social activities

Prejudice is an unfair and unreasonable attitude or feeling about a group of people. For example: ‘People with disabilities can’t and shouldn’t be included in society and services.’ ^{Source: UNICEF}

Social norms are the perceived informal, mostly unwritten, rules that define acceptable and appropriate actions within a given group or community. ^{Source: MSI}

Intersectionality recognises that people’s lives are shaped by their identities, relationships and social factors. These combine to create intersecting forms of privilege and oppression depending on factors such as age, sex, religion, disability, poverty status, ethnicity, education, and geographic location. ^{Source: United Nations (PDF)}

For example, a young woman with disabilities in a rural area may face multiple and intersecting forms of stigma and discrimination based on their age, gender, ethnicity and disability.