Outdated attitudes towards leprosy are still affecting modern marriages. In some parts of the world, leprosy patients may lose their partner or struggle to find a prospective spouse due to misconceptions about the disease. Spouses and family members also face societal pressure to separate from the leprosy-affected person.1-3
Let’s look at some statistics that show leprosy’s impact on marriage in certain parts of the world.
India
In Maharashtra, Saksham Kushthateya Swabhimani Sanstha (SKSS), an organisation of people affected by leprosy (known as Kushthanteya), has implemented a community-led research project to explore how leprosy affects families. The study, titled “Impact of Stigma and Discrimination Due to Leprosy on Family and Marital Dynamics”, found that:1
• 26% of leprosy-affected people reported experiencing stigma and discrimination (63% of these were women).
• 29% of leprosy-affected people noted negative impacts on their marital relationships.
Africa
According to a study conducted in Ethiopia, leprosy can affect marital and family relationships over multiple generations.
“Leprosy-affected persons face difficulties in finding a partner, being abandoned by their spouse, and being seen as a threat to the marriage prospects of other members of the family,” says the study. “As a result, affected persons are forced to leave their families and area of birth to live in settlements designated for them. Descendants also face stigmatisation and marriage isolation in other communities where they live, if they are identified as the offspring of leprosy-affected parents, forcing them to marry mainly within their own community.”2
South Asia
Research in Nepal’s Maithili culture shows that leprosy is detrimental to marriages. Spouses may leave and upcoming marriage plans may be cancelled. One patient recounts: “All arrangements for my marriage had been done in the village where I used to work. Then the whole village came to know that I had leprosy. So, the marriage could not take place.”
The spouses of people with leprosy are warned not to sleep next to them, because of the false belief that the disease can be transmitted through sweat.
“Courtesy stigma” is also a problem in Nepali culture, meaning that people related to or associated with the leprosy-affected person (including spouses) will be pressured to withdraw their support and expel the leprosy-affected person from their village.
One woman recalls how her family kept her presences a secret in order to preserve her sister’s upcoming marriage: “They said that if I remain with their family, no one would come to marry them, if I am around, nobody will be ready to offer his son or daughter to my sisters and brother. I had been to my parents’ home a short while ago. During that time, negotiation for the marriage of my younger sister was in progress. The family members were discussing over the problem as to what to be done with me, because if I am there, it could create some problem in the marriage. So, I should be kept in Lalgadh during the marriage so that the groom’s side will not know about me. They will not invite me to attend the marriage.”3
Past Laws Affecting Marriage and Reproductive Rights
Until 2019, a spouse contracting leprosy was considered legal grounds for divorce in India.4 Tragically, many leprosy-affected people were also forced to undergo sterilisation and termination of pregnancy in the past, notably in Japan in the 1900s.5
Leprosy patients have more right today than they have had in past years, thanks to the tireless work of leprosy ambassadors and educators around the world. However, the research here shows that there is a long way to go (and a lot of unlearning myths and misconceptions to be done) before the stigma of leprosy is broken.
References:
1. Viewpoint: persons affected by leprosy research stigma and discrimination in India and Brazil. Sasakawa Leprosy (Hansen’s Disease) Initiative. Accessed January 26, 2026. https://sasakawaleprosyinitiative.org/latest-updates/initiative-news/6240/.
2. Leprosy stigma and its effect on the marriage experience of leprosy affected people and their descendants: the case of Addis-Tesfa Hiwot settlements in Ethiopia. Infolep. Accessed January 26, 2026. https://www.leprosy-information.org/resource/leprosy-stigma-and-its-effect-marriage-experience-leprosy-affected-people-and-their.
3. Gender experience: marriage and the stigma of leprosy. Asia Pacific Disability Rehabilitation Journal. Accessed January 26, 2026. https://www.dinf.ne.jp/doc/english/asia/resource/apdrj/v172006/gender-lep.html.
4. Leprosy no longer grounds for divorce in India. The Leprosy Mission NI. Accessed January 26, 2026. https://www.tlm-ni.org/news/2019/february/leprosy-no-longer-grounds-for-divorce-in-india.
5. Leprosy in Japan. Wikipedia. Accessed January 26, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leprosy_in_Japan&oldid=1334386754.