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Nurturing empathy for social cohesion: Participatory, community-based communication design research with gay youth living with HIV in Lebanon
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- Author(s) / Creator(s)
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The marginalization of gay youth living with HIV (GYLWH) in Lebanese
society is well documented. The topic of gay youth living with HIV in a deeply
conservative and homophobic society has not been studied in any great
depth. The story of gay youth in Lebanon is one of the stigmatization of
minorities within and by other minorities. The question of how to break down
‘walls’ built on foundations of ignorance, intolerance, and self-loathing is
yet to be examined. Using participatory, community-based communication
design methods, this thesis project presents a model that uses visual
communication design, in the form of digital storytelling (the making of
videos), to help build trust among GYLWH in Beirut, Lebanon in order to
remove barriers between groups and individuals and reduce stigma.
The research project tested a design thinking process, for social designers
dealing with marginalized groups, in the form of a workshop procedure that
was implemented within/by a support group.This research was concerned with bridging the gap between GYLWH and
their community, using visual communication design as a means of initiating
a dialogue between the two groups. The research shed light on the lives
and experiences of gay youth living with the virus. This process had a dual
effect. It helped GYLWH to build confidence by allowing them to speak up and
express themselves through sharing their stories with their community, and it
nurtured empathy in gay youth (GY) by exposing them to the realities of living
with HIV and by opening a discourse that resulted in their personal growth. -
- Date created
- 2017-09-28
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- Type of Item
- Research Material