India and HIV

Post created 9 years 2 months ago by JoDha

India is very conservative and orthodox when it comes to HIV. In most areas (except in Mumbai) it is considered as a "taboo" topic, especially in rural areas. Women from villages and town-sides are married off to men by their families without even knowing their respective HIV status.

In rural areas, if the husband dies, the wife, along with her children, are ostracized by the society when they come to know of her HIV status. They think of her as a "characterless" woman. Even her husband's family (despite knowing the fact that their son was HIV positive and had passed the virus on to his wife who transmitted it to her kids during childbirth) would throw her out of their matrimonial home just to save their face and prestige in the society.

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Stigma

Submitted by Mukasey • 9 years ago

The biggest challenge that is still faces in most African countries with people living with HIV AIDS is stigma. you cant force stigma out. In one way or the other I have experienced it even in this day and, and it affect your everyday life and at some point you just get crushed. Am also concerned about high poverty levels in my country Zambia and the state of poor children who are HIV positive, when it comes to kids who are living positively and they are still on one meal per day, I feel not much really has been done in this country and it breaks my heart.Something has to be done to save these souls. I worry too about the attitude of most people in my country towards HIV and life in general, sensitization has been done, but it is ignorance that has not been dealt with. Everyone knows about HIV but they really don't care much, they know that you can get the virus and you can die if you don't take the necessary precautions, and these are grown up people, yet they don't know the real details of living your life with the virus.

Great work.

Submitted by boseolotu • 9 years ago

IYOTI, thanks for share about this big challenges women faces in your country.
You know similarly same thing is going on here in Nigeria. sometimes last month I was invited to a community dialogue in Abuja Nigeria my country.
And one of the matron present at the event share her experience about a young woman who is pregnant and just get to find out her HIV status.
She was tested positive and because of this the husband refused her to go for ANC and he took her cellphone from her so that the woman will not be able to communicate with the nurses.
I asked if I could visit the woman? But was told that the husband has took her to the village.
As an home base care provider I have seen women been treated in such manners.
Mostly from the northern part of Nigeria where women are not allowed to voice.
What you just explain is what is being practice in the northern part of my country Nigeria.
For me it is a privilege as an Ambassadors of The Well Project to take HIV / AIDS information to women at the grassroots level. There are so many women out there that are being treated like a plague and stigmatised because of their HIV status.