HIV-related stigma, asset inheritance and chronic poverty: Vulnerability and resilience of widows and caregiving children and youth in Tanzania and Uganda

Abstract

This article develops a framework of risk and protective factors to conceptualize the relationship between HIV-related stigma, asset inheritance and chronic poverty among widows and caregiving children and youth in Eastern Africa. Analysis of two qualitative studies with 85 participants in rural and urban areas of Tanzania and Uganda reveals that gendered and generational inequalities and stigmatization sometimes leads to property grabbing and chronic poverty. Human and social capital and preventative measures however may help widows and caregiving young people in HIV-affected households to safeguard land and other assets, within a wider supportive environment that seeks to tackle structural inequalities.