In the global map of HIV/AIDS, a disturbing trend is the increasing number of women getting infected. While the campaign against the disease is now focusing on the gender-implication, many Positive women are themselves joining in to strengthen the movement.  Ranjita Biswas reports

It’s my life Million Dollar Baby Playing to the gallery Banished Within and Without Women’s story Minstrels of the road images of Fortitude A life extraordinary Challenges to change Chasing a wild dream Match-point Voice of silence Happy to be kicking Steel magnolia When magic realism meets activism Challenges to change “Dance is like breathing to me” Making a mark Sweet revenge A supercop and a lady Cat women Courage under fire Here comes Miss Marple! Space Woman

G“Everyday since I came to know that I got infected with HIV by my husband it has been a mental struggle. But I have learnt to live with it and move on,” Kirenjit Kaur, Malaysia.

These are women’s voices that were rare even a few years ago, more particularly in the patriarchal Asia-Pacific region. It has been well-recorded  that  women suffer more from stigma and discrimination than men who are HIV-Positive. Women’s poor negotiating power in sexual relationships due to social norms, combined with their low economic status, is one of the contributing factors to the increase in the number of  women getting infected, experts observe, resulting in the  “Feminisation of AIDS.”

However, on the positive note, at this year’s  9th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP9) in Bali,  there were multiple of voices- from HIV Positive women, activists, community leaders, who focused on the place of women in the HIV map and their problems.

Kirenjit Kaur is now administrative officer, APCASO (Asia Pacific Council of AIDS Service Organizations). Her story, as well as  Pharozin’s,  is among 11 compiled in a publication “Diamonds” a joint effort by UNIFEM and APN+ (Asia Pacific Network of People living with HIV/AIDS) which was launched at the Bali Conference. 

Coming out of victim-hood can inspire others too. This helps ensure better  access to healthcare.  The catalyst can even be creative writing or singing and writing songs. One such effort is a ‘writing project’ in Indonesia. Shanti of the Ikatan Perempuan Positif Indonesia (IPPI) talks about  this innovative programme in  her country facilitated by UNAIDS.  Thirty Positive women from 10 provinces took part in  a workshop on creative writing. It was mentored by some of Indonesia’s leading  women writers like Dewi lestari, Oka Rusmini, Djenar Maesa Ayu, Ayu Utami and Nukila Amal. The women could write anything that concerned their lives. The mentors then helped them to edit their copies. Eleven best stories by ten writers were chosen  and compiled into a book Aku Kartini Bernwaya Sembilan which translates into “I am Karini with Nine Lives”  with a print run of  1000 copies. These were  sold in popular bookstalls. All the writers received royalty.

 “HIV is not a barrier to be productive and creative,” Shanti feels. The project’s another aim was to make other people feel encouraged enough to express themselves emerging from a state of denial and silence. “Lack of information on the disease is a big problem in our country. A fictionalised account by Positive women may break the barrier for many,” Shanti says.  Perhaps their stories would be translated one day into English and reach a wider readership, she hopes.  

Songs in the Blood is another creative effort but as a radio play. A “Women’ Health Statewide” of Australia project, it tells the stories of 14 women, both infected and affected as a family member of a Positive person, and highlights the problems women face. Writer Mansutti  has woven together the stories  aired by Radio Adelaide into a powerful plea for understanding the impact of HIV on women in diverse ways. One of the voices in the play: “I was astounded at the impact of our words to educate and demystify the stereotypical image of who is living with HIV in Australia. We women are now visible.”

The last affects women the most.  UNIFEM states that women  constitutes the greatest number of new infections in several countries of the Asia-Pacific region.  The proportion of women PLHIV has been rising steadily from 19% to 24% in 2007 (Reports on the Commission on AIDS in Asia-2008)