She was known as the HIV girl, the stigma stuck to her like a permanent tattoo. Everyone kept their distance from her and treated her like an outcast.

Alas, she did not have HIV. She had lost everything - opportunities, relationships, friends - all because a guy who could not take no for an answer started the cruel rumour to get back at her for refusing his advances. He figured he could defame her and get away with it.

Defamation can be very damaging. It is a false and derogatory statement made about someone which hurts and damages that person’s reputation. The statement must have the tendency of lowering the person’s reputation before right-thinking people and also expose that person to ridicule.

Written defamation is called libel while spoken defamation is called slander.

Inasmuch as we have the right to freedom of speech, the law tries to balance this so that people do not ruin the lives of others by saying false and hurtful things about them.

A clear example of defamation is the guy who damaged the lady's reputation because she refused his advances. The statement was untrue and injurious. Other examples of defamation is where a person describes another person as a thief or a lesbian or a drunk.

A mere insult or vulgar abuse will not be considered as defamation.

To prove defamation, the person must show that the statement is false and injurious. So if the statement is injurious but is actually true, it is not defamation. The person must also show that the statement was in reference to him and that it was communicated to at least one other person.

Defamation can be quite difficult to prove because there is usually no physical injury; it is the reputation that gets injured. However, it is easier to prove libel because it is in a written form.

A private person who is defamed has more protection than a public figure. For politicians, it is quite hard to prove defamation because the public has a right to criticize the people they elected into office. This also goes for celebrities and actors, they have to prove that the person who made the statement made it out of actual malice.

There are defences to defamation cases and some of the defences are:

1. If the person claiming defamation had given his consent that the statement should be published.

2. Where there is a justifiable reason for making the statement.

3. If the statement is actually true.

4. Another defence is if the person who made the defamatory statement had the right to make that statement.

Yet, it should be noted that what may be defamatory in one society may not necessarily be so in another society. With the frequent slangs and slogans that come and go on a daily basis, some defamatory statements may over time, cease to be defamatory. [url][/url]www.tylegal.com