“Assahra Al-Maghribia” winner of the first National Journalism Prize on AIDS and human rights

Friday 27th December 2024 02:09 PM

The fight against AIDS is a long-term fight that requires everyone’s commitment. And the media have a crucial role to play in raising awareness, informing and breaking the taboos surrounding this disease. From there, the first National Prize for Journalism on AIDS and Human Rights is of capital importance. It rewards journalists who, through their rigorous work and commitment, contribute to changing mentalities and improving the lives of people living with HIV.

It is in this context that a file produced by our colleague Aziza El Gherfaouidaily journalist “Assahara Al-Maghribia”was awarded the first Prize for best journalistic work on the theme HIV/AIDS and human rights. This distinction recognizes the quality of her report entitled “People living with AIDS… A silent and shocking suffering”, published in the edition of Friday October 18, 2024. Through a poignant investigation, the journalist gives a voice to those who suffer in silence, victims of both illness and societal prejudice.

This coronation took place during an official ceremony organized by theAssociation for the fight against AIDS and its partners (as part of the Nadoum program of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria), on December 24 in Casablanca. The event took place in the presence of several media participating in this Prize in its first edition and representatives of the National Union of the Moroccan Press (SNPM).

A professional and daring treatment

The file submitted by Aziza El Gherfaoui is a model of serious journalism, combining field work and in-depth analysis. She addresses the suffering of women living with AIDS, the social stigma and discrimination that affects their rights and dignity. The award-winning journalist deplores in her file the fact that despite progress in treatment, preconceived and unfounded ideas only increase the isolation of people with AIDSpushing some to consider societal vengeance or to isolate themselves. His professional and daring work draws attention to an essential and often overlooked dimension in the lives of people with AIDS and their families.

In a moving interview with a young sex worker who does not carry the virus, but who is aware of the painful stories of people living with AIDS, the journalist sheds light on social dramas experienced in distress and shame. She tells how these people face radical changes in their lives, from the shock of discovering the virus to the difficult acceptance, including the search for treatment and the desire for confidentiality in a society where this disease remains a taboo surrounded by all kinds of abjection and infamy.

Through her testimony, this woman describes the intense and unbearable psychological pressures experienced by people living with AIDS. Pressures which often push victims to suffer from severe depression, to attempt suicide, to indulge in drug addiction and even to have desires for revenge. Strong and poignant, the file puts its finger on a gaping wound that society, through its prejudices and sometimes its indifference, unceremoniously exacerbates. This undoubtedly explains the jury’s decision to award this Prize to Aziza Gharfaoui who with all his humility declares: “Your encouragement means a lot to me. This Award is a crowning achievement for all of us at the newspaper “Assahara Al-Maghribia” and at group “The Morning” in general”.