When Venkatamma, 17,
was abandoned by her husband, she had no option but to work to
support herself and her newborn daughter. Being poor, young and
single, she was an easy target for pimps. However, despite being
forced to have sexual relations with several men at the construction
site in Hyderabad where she worked, Venkatamma did not raise her
voice for fear of losing her job.
However, when she started keeping unwell, Venkatamma went to the
doctor, who told her that she was HIV+. Although stunned and
confused, Venkatamma hoped her family would support her. But there,
too, she was in for a huge disappointment. Instead of helping her to
come to terms with the news, her brother threw her out of the house
and even stopped her from meeting her daughter.
If this story sounds
familiar, it is because there are many women like Venkatamma who, due to
their low status and inability to negotiate safe sex, are vulnerable to
contracting HIV. According to the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO),
39 per cent of the total number of people living with HIV are women and
the numbers are only rising. But what is really worrisome is that a
majority of them, particularly, rural married women, lack access to
appropriate communication material on HIV and AIDS and that has greatly
impeded prevention and treatment efforts.
With the intention of equipping low-literate and neo-literate rural
women with the right information, the Population Council has developed a
training manual on women's vulnerabilities to the infection. 'Our
Stories: Women Speak Out Against HIV', an interactive and visually
attractive training manual, which was introduced in April this year, has
already reached out to over 4,000 women. It has been designed by
Vikalpdesign, a development communications design agency.
According to Vijaya Nidadavolu, who headed the communications project
for the Population Council, the existing literature tends to overlook
women who have no reading skills. "This manual is aimed at rural married
women in the age group of 15 to 35 years. We did not want to focus
specifically on their economic background. Our main concern was that
some material be made for rural pockets where other media on HIV seem to
have penetrated very minimally," said Nidadavolu.
This is perhaps the first time a manual on a sensitive subject like HIV
and AIDS has been based entirely on inputs and drawings by rural women
in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, the states chosen for the project.
They were chosen because of their differences in HIV prevalence rate. In
Andhra Pradesh, where prevalence rates are high, the Council
collaborated with the Andhra Pradesh Mahila Samantha Society (APMSS) in
Mahaboobnagar and Karimnagar. In West Bengal, where the prevalence rate
is on the rise, it partnered Child In Need Institute (CINI) in
Murshidabad and South 24 Parganas.
Simple to understand, the manual has colour-coded specific aspects, like
vulnerability of women, routes of transmission, HIV testing, prevention
methods and need for support to HIV+ people, of the four stories
published. It also has some pullouts that provide a three-dimensional
effect, which keep the readers engaged.
Interestingly, the manual was developed after several rounds of
discussions with the target audience. All the stories are based on
real-life incidents of women who had never even heard of the virus until
it entered their homes. In fact, according to Vijaya Usha Rani of APMSS,
women have been able to relate to the stories because they have either
seen or heard of similar incidents.
For example, Mangamma's story touched many a women belonging to areas
populated by truckers. Happily married with three children, Mangamma,
27, found that she and her trucker husband were HIV+ when they fell ill,
a few months after her husband was given blood following an accident.
Ignorance about the infection and its modes of transmission led
Mangamma's husband to suspect her of being unfaithful. When he resorted
to violence, other villagers supported him. It was only when the local
ANM came visiting that she was able to give him the correct information.
However, says Moumita Saha of CINI, the stories were chosen not only
because they were women's own stories but because they addressed the low
risk perception women in the two states had about themselves vis-à-vis
domestic violence, migration and ability to negotiate safe sex.
Discussions also revealed that although women living in districts closer
to urban areas had higher exposure to HIV messages, in general,
knowledge regarding the virus was low and misconceptions high.
While the stories emphasise how lack of information exacerbates women's
vulnerability leading to abandonment and domestic violence, it also
narrates how women have faced the challenges head-on.
Abridged versions have also been published in small booklets, keeping in
mind the need expressed by the women to have visually colourful material
in a small book format, which they could refer to at ease. Importantly,
each booklet has addresses of the local Voluntary Counselling and
Testing Centres.
Currently, a total of 100,000 booklets, published in Bengali and Telegu,
are being distributed directly to the women, while about 1,000 are being
used by different NGOs in the states. In addition, training workshops
cum dissemination meetings are being held to educate trainers on how to
use the manual. According to APMSS, the manual has been endorsed and
integrated by the Andhra Pradesh State AIDS Control Society into its
ongoing outreach activities. In West Bengal, over 200 trainers and 2,000
women have already been introduced to the manual.
While the response has been overwhelming, it is still early days to
gauge its impact on women's abilities to deal with the infection. CINI
and APMSS expect to get a clearer picture in another couple of months,
once their evaluation and impact assessment is over.
Hoping women opt for voluntary testing after being shown the manual is,
perhaps, expecting too much too soon. So, even if it is able to raise
awareness about the infection, its prevention and treatment and, most
importantly, create the hope that there is life after HIV and AIDS, it
would make a huge difference.
August 12,
2007
By arrangement with
WFS
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