Socio-Economic Impact of HIV and AIDS in Tamil nadu

In cases where
the family is not
supportive but
the spouse is, it
is noticed that
more women are
supportive of
their HIV-positive
husbands (14.5%)
than men of their
HIV-positive wives
13 percent had initially decided to keep
their HIV status as a secret on account of
perceived discrimination or rejection.
As far as the initial reaction of the
spouse/family members is concerned, it
is seen that quite a large percentage were
shocked and disappointed. However,
in about 43 percent of the cases they
were supportive and here no gender
divide is noticed. Surprisingly, in a larger
percentage of cases the family/spouse
sympathised with the female PLWHA
(21.5%) rather than the male PLWHA
(9.3%). Again, surprisingly, in 4.1 percent
cases male PLWHA were deserted
by their spouses while in the case of
female PLWHA this figure was lower
at 2.9 percent. However, 7.7 percent of
female PLWHA were disowned by their
family in comparison with 1.5 percent
male PLWHA who were subjected to this
treatment.
8.3.2 Current attitude of
spouse/family members
The current attitude of the family
members is quite encouraging, as 80
percent of the male and 74 percent of
the female PLWHA have reported that
their families are quite supportive in
spite of there being a slight hesitation for
a few in the beginning. This speaks for
the strong family ties in India. However,
here again, there is a gender gap in the
percentage receiving support from the
family, although there is no rural/urban
divide. Also, in cases where the family
is not supportive but the spouse is, it is
noticed that more women are supportive
of their HIV-positive husbands (14.5%)
than men of their HIV-positive wives
(8.1%). Again, the percentage reporting
problems like “deprived of using basic
amenities” and being asked to leave the
home etc, is more in the case of women
than for men and this gender difference
is more marked in urban areas.
For both men and women, the contexts
and forms of HIV and AIDS related
discrimination and stigmatisation would
appear to be similar but it is the context
of ‘relationship’ that sets apart the
experience of women from that of men.
Discrimination like neglect, isolation,
verbal teasing was reported by a higher
percentage of women in both urban and
rural areas.
In the FGD that was conducted at
Cambam in the Theni district, there were
participants who had been treated well
by their families as well as those who
had faced discrimination. One of the
participants informed the group that his
mother, brothers and sisters were taking
extra care of him since they felt that he
was not going to live for long. However, in
case of a woman participant her brother’s
family supported her after she became a
widow but they asked her to keep her bed
and vessels separately and were always
scared of catching the infection from
her to the extent that they would not
even allow her to kiss her daughter who
was HIV-negative. The majority of the
participants in the FGD did not complain
of discrimination within the family.
8.3.3 Coping with the
situation
As seen earlier, when their HIV-positive
status was detected, most of the people
were initially shocked, embarrassed or
could not believe it. The survey tried
to find out from the PLWHA how they
managed to cope with the situation and
how they got over the initial shock. Table
9.3 presents the percentage distribution
of the PLWHA with reference to various
types of coping mechanisms adopted by
them and the nature of moral support
received by them from various people.
Around 48 percent of the HIV-positive
men and 44 percent of the women
reported that the counselling received
110 Socio-Economic Impact of HIV and AIDS in Tamil Nadu, India