Socio-Economic Impact of HIV and AIDS in Tamil nadu

that now. One of the participants who
had a few acres of land had given it
on lease.
Gender issues
The participants were then asked whether
they perceived any discrimination in
the treatment of HIV-positive men and
women. The general opinion was that
society looks down upon HIV-positive
women as bad characters whereas
it is more tolerant when it comes to
HIV-positive men. When the women
were asked whether they were aware
of their husband’s positive status from
the beginning, a participant narrated
her story. Her husband, a truck driver,
was an AIDS patient and used to get
opportunistic infections like loose
motions and mouth ulcers. He was
even admitted to a hospital. However,
her husband and in-laws kept his HIV
status a secret from her and she also
got infected as a result. In fact, some of
the female participants came to know of
their HIV status only after the death of
their husbands.
Though most of the widows did mention
that they were annoyed and frustrated
since, owing to their husband’s behaviour,
they had to work and take care of their
children, one of them had a very different
attitude. In her own words, “Anybody can
get ill and die, so why should I blame my
husband”. According to her, he got the
infection by going to prostitutes. She also
justified this behaviour of her husband
saying that before she married him, he
was married to a sick woman and in her
opinion, any man in such a situation
would seek pleasure outside wedlock.
It was rather surprising that even the
participant who is currently working with
the Network said that she never got angry
with her husband for not having revealed
his HIV status to her.
In another incident, the wife left her
husband and went to her parent’s
house when she came to know of his
HIV status. But her parents advised her
to take care of the ailing husband. She
stayed with her in-laws till her husband’s
death.
According to the male participants, many
men do not divulge their status to their
wives since they fear that their wives may
not look after them. However, two of the
male participants mentioned that they
had divulged their status to their wives
and the wives have accepted them and
have a very sympathetic attitude towards
them.
It was generally seen that widows are
living either with their parents or by
themselves.
Future plans
The participants were asked if they
had made any plans for the future
security of their children. Two of the
male participants who were working as
counsellors said that they were saving
for their children and their aim was to
save as much as possible for the future
of their children and their wives, who
were not HIV-positive. They wanted
to educate their children as much as
possible and till such time that their
health permits them to earn. Some of
the women who were educated only
upto primary or middle school seemed
very keen to educate their children
rather than simply save money for them.
They felt that they were suffering as
they were uneducated and did not want
their children to face the same situation.
Their arrangements for the future of
the children seemed to vary a lot. In
a number of cases, the HIV-positive
women were confident that their mother
or brothers would take care of their
Annexures
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