Intersectionality is a critical tool for understanding how socially constructed categories shape multiple dimensions of lived experience. In this study, we apply an intersectional lens to explore how women of color from two different contexts, Hyderabad, India and Chicago, Illinois, manage gendered forms of stigma and oppression as they converge with other devalued statuses, namely living with HIV or having a history of drug use or incarceration. Applying intersectional stigma as our conceptual framework, and drawing from transnational feminist perspectives, we identified two overarching themes. Women in both contexts combat stigma by employing strategies of concealment within their romantic and familial systems. Moreover, women’s roles as mothers were critical sources for managing their complex illnesses and for accessing support. Using these experiences of stigma against women of color as our analytic lens, we offer an intersectional framework for qualitative health research involving marginalized cisgender women of color in transnational contexts.

交叉性是理解社会建构的类别如何塑造生活经验的多个维度的关键工具。在这项研究中，我们应用交叉视角来探索来自印度海得拉巴和伊利诺伊州芝加哥这两个不同背景的有色人种女性如何在与其他被贬低的身份（即感染艾滋病毒或患有吸毒史或监禁史。将交叉污名作为我们的概念框架，并从跨国女权主义的角度出发，我们确定了两个总体主题。两种情况下的女性都通过在其浪漫和家庭系统中采用隐瞒策略来对抗耻辱。此外，妇女作为母亲的角色是管理其复杂疾病和获得支持的重要来源。