AIDS epidemic threatens Dalit women
DFN
Rani was sent to work in a brothel by her parents when she was only 15. Poverty was a major factor in this. Like her parents, Rani is illiterate. She speaks of her pain and suffering as a prostitute: “Many used to come at once fully drunk beating, using bad words and threatening with knife, some are not ready to use condoms”. As a result, Rani is infected with HIV, has many health problems, and weighs a mere 26 Kgs. At the age of 35, she prays that God would end her life now.
Similarly, Jyothi, aged just 27, is very weak and refuses to go for a voluntary AIDS test. The stigma of having AIDS is too much for many of these women. Her husband is an alcoholic, and is known to be HIV positive and almost certainly transmitted the infection to her. Jyothi is separated from her husband and with their only daughter, 11 year old Seema, lives with her parents. Even though she is so ill, she refuses treatment. “I will die like this”, she says.
Krishnaveni, a beautiful 26 year old, is a devadasi (a form of ritualised prostitution), like her mother before her. She worked in a brothel in a nearby city for most of her life, but 5 months ago she returned to her village. Even though she has come home, she has not left her old life, she still operates as a prostitute but from her own hut now.
What hope is there for women like this?
OMIF has a team based nearby, and much of their work involves making contact with women in ritualised prostitution - devadasi, building a rapport, and offering help and hope. They offer HIV/AIDS awareness programmes, and encourage the women to come for testing. One village the team work in has no transport links, so the team have to walk 2.5 kms from the nearest main road to run an awareness programme. Almost 25 devadasi live here, most of them have worked in brothels in nearby cities. Another village they are hoping to work in has as many as 45 devadasi families. Those who test positive can be offered treatment, and the team ensure that they follow up to monitor not just the treatment, but the health of the women in general. They also work with the children of devadasi. Sashin, a young boy, weighed only 20 kg a month ago. Now after the intervention of the team, better nutrition and monitoring he is much better and has gained weight.
Over the last month, the OMIF team have conducted two HIV/AIDS Awareness seminars. They have seen four people from one small village taking a CD4 test (to assess their immune system after HIV has been detected), three others were persuaded to take HIV tests, and four more have begun Anti-Retroviral Treatment. It is a small beginning, but it can make the world of difference for each of these individuals and their families.
The team see many needs besides healthcare. They would like to offer education to the children of devadasi at a Dalit Education Centre. They want to provide counselling for the women by women, as well as to provide nutritious diets to those most at risk. They would love to see more devadasi as peer educators, spreading educational messages that will help prevent the spread of the disease and improve treatment for those who have it. The dream of a primary care clinic set up in the rural area, able to meet many of the healthcare needs, is never far from them. Nor is the capacity to take medical provision to outlying villages on a regular basis.
You can help make this happen. Through raising funds for OMIF’s anti-trafficking projects, you can help to make a real difference in the lives of some of the most oppressed and needy women and children in India.