IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i10p5929-d814812.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Navigating Stigma and Discrimination: Experiences of Migrant Children with Special Needs and Their Families in Accessing Education and Healthcare in Hong Kong

Author

Listed:
  • Kim Kwok

    (Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China)

  • Sylvia Kwok Lai Yuk Ching

    (Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China)

Abstract

This paper explores the barriers to supporting South Asian (Pakistani, Nepalese and Indian) migrant children with special needs and their families encountered navigating Hong Kong’s special needs system and accessing education and healthcare services. It adopts concepts of stigma and disability rights. It draws on semi-structured interviews with fifteen South Asian children and young people with special needs (age 5–21; M = 10; F = 5) and their families, and seven professional practitioners based on the qualitative descriptive method. Informants experienced intersecting stigmatization that included (1) institutional exclusion, (2) daily life microaggressions, and (3) misunderstandings and a lack of awareness education. Simultaneously, some were empowered through (4) support and accommodation, and (5) spiritual support from religion. This paper reveals a paradox embodied by Hong Kong; it is an Asian multicultural city committed to embracing the vision of disability inclusion while failing to ensure necessary support to reduce the stigma experienced by culturally diverse children with a disability. It makes recommendations based on a socioecological framework and concludes that concerted efforts by relevant authorities and organizations should be made to reduce stigma by taking into consideration the intersecting stigmas, specific resources unique to migrant communities, disability rights and cultural sensitivity.

Suggested Citation

  • Kim Kwok & Sylvia Kwok Lai Yuk Ching, 2022. "Navigating Stigma and Discrimination: Experiences of Migrant Children with Special Needs and Their Families in Accessing Education and Healthcare in Hong Kong," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-16, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:10:p:5929-:d:814812
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/10/5929/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/10/5929/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kwok, Kim & Kwok, Diana K., 2020. "More than comfort and discomfort: Emotion work of parenting children with autism in Hong Kong," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    2. Collins, Pamela Y. & von Unger, Hella & Armbrister, Adria, 2008. "Church ladies, good girls, and locas: Stigma and the intersection of gender, ethnicity, mental illness, and sexuality in relation to HIV risk," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 389-397, August.
    3. Nimisha Vandan & Janet Y‐H Wong & Daniel Y‐T Fong, 2019. "Accessing health care: Experiences of South Asian ethnic minority women in Hong Kong," Nursing & Health Sciences, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(1), pages 93-101, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sangaramoorthy, Thurka & Benton, Adia, 2022. "Intersectionality and syndemics: A commentary," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 295(C).
    2. Daftary, Amrita, 2012. "HIV and tuberculosis: The construction and management of double stigma," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(10), pages 1512-1519.
    3. Robillard, Chantal, 2010. "The gendered experience of stigmatization in severe and persistent mental illness in Lima, Peru," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(12), pages 2178-2186, December.
    4. Proctor, Alana & Krumeich, Anja & Meershoek, Agnes, 2011. "Making a difference: The construction of ethnicity in HIV and STI epidemiological research by the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM)," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(11), pages 1838-1845, June.
    5. Frederick, Angela, 2017. "Visibility, respectability, and disengagement: The everyday resistance of mothers with disabilities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 131-138.
    6. Tuyet-Mai H. Hoang & Ainslee Wong, 2022. "Exploring the Application of Intersectionality as a Path toward Equity in Perinatal Health: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-25, December.
    7. Syed Mustafa Ali & Naveed Anjum & Muhammad Ishaq & Farah Naureen & Arif Noor & Aamna Rashid & Syed Muslim Abbas & Kerri Viney, 2019. "Community Knowledge about Tuberculosis and Perception about Tuberculosis-Associated Stigma in Pakistan," Societies, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-12, January.
    8. Coreil, Jeannine & Mayard, Gladys & Simpson, Kelly M. & Lauzardo, Michael & Zhu, Yiliang & Weiss, Mitchell, 2010. "Structural forces and the production of TB-related stigma among Haitians in two contexts," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(8), pages 1409-1417, October.
    9. Gkiouleka, Anna & Huijts, Tim, 2020. "Intersectional migration-related health inequalities in Europe: Exploring the role of migrant generation, occupational status & gender," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 267(C).
    10. Hankivsky, Olena, 2012. "Women’s health, men’s health, and gender and health: Implications of intersectionality," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(11), pages 1712-1720.
    11. Groce, Nora Ellen & Rohleder, Poul & Eide, Arne Henning & MacLachlan, Malcolm & Mall, Sumaya & Swartz, Leslie, 2013. "HIV issues and people with disabilities: A review and agenda for research," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 31-40.
    12. Valerie Møller & Ida Erstad & Dalinyebo Zani, 2010. "Drinking, Smoking, and Morality: Do ‘Drinkers and Smokers’ Constitute a Stigmatised Stereotype or a Real TB Risk Factor in the Time of HIV/AIDS?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 98(2), pages 217-238, September.
    13. Sebsibe Tadesse, 2016. "Stigma against Tuberculosis Patients in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(4), pages 1-11, April.
    14. Whittle, Henry J. & Palar, Kartika & Ranadive, Nikhil A. & Turan, Janet M. & Kushel, Margot & Weiser, Sheri D., 2017. "“The land of the sick and the land of the healthy”: Disability, bureaucracy, and stigma among people living with poverty and chronic illness in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 181-189.
    15. Livingston, James D. & Boyd, Jennifer E., 2010. "Correlates and consequences of internalized stigma for people living with mental illness: A systematic review and meta-analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(12), pages 2150-2161, December.
    16. Rice, Whitney S. & Logie, Carmen H. & Napoles, Tessa M. & Walcott, Melonie & Batchelder, Abigail W. & Kempf, Mirjam-Colette & Wingood, Gina M. & Konkle-Parker, Deborah J. & Turan, Bulent & Wilson, Tra, 2018. "Perceptions of intersectional stigma among diverse women living with HIV in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 9-17.
    17. Gkiouleka, Anna & Huijts, Tim & Beckfield, Jason & Bambra, Clare, 2018. "Understanding the micro and macro politics of health: Inequalities, intersectionality & institutions - A research agenda," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 92-98.
    18. Simonsen, Sara E. & Digre, Kathleen B. & Ralls, Brenda & Mukundente, Valentine & Davis, France A. & Rickard, Sylvia & Tavake-Pasi, Fahina & Napia, Eru (Ed) & Aiono, Heather & Chirpich, Meghan & Stark,, 2015. "A gender-based approach to developing a healthy lifestyle and healthy weight intervention for diverse Utah women," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 8-16.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:10:p:5929-:d:814812. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.