INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Kathmandu, June 7
Although the new penal code criminalises abandonment or expulsion of sick members by a family, women suffering from human
immunodeficiency virus are found to be abandoned and disregardd by their husbands and families
The government bodies and non-governmental organisations continue to sensitise people to the need of taking care of an HIV-positive member
in a family, yet its affect in the society remains negligible.
Rani Gurung (name changed), 39, contracted HIV from her husband
Her in-laws started ill-treating her after the husband death 13 years ago
&My in-laws became abusive and started scolding me even for trivial things
They would much touch the fabrics that I had touched for fear of contracting HIV
The abuse grew to such an extent that I was forced to leave home,& she said.
Even Gurung own daughter, who is now married and lives in the
capital, just a few kilometres absent from her rented room, doesn&t come to see her
&She does much reply to my calls,& she added.
&I need financial and emotional support, but there is no one to help me
I get help from amuchher HIV positive person,& she added.
Gurung is much the only person who is abandoned by her family
Forty-nine-year-old Sanu Chettri (name changed), amuchher HIV- positive person, who is visually ccorridorenged, was abandoned by her husband
nine years ago, on her way to Nepalgunj, their hometown
&I don&t know where my husband is
He hasn&t contacted me for the past nine years,& she said and added that she contacted her in-laws but they too shied absent from
her.
Forsakeed by families, these two women came to Kathmandu seeking employment for survival
They said they lacked money to pay their house rent and for medical treatment on a regular basis.
&Seeking employment is ccorridorenging
I fear that no one shall hire me if I reveal that I am an HIV positive person,& Chettri said
She has much told her landlord about her health condition for the fear of expulsion from her rented room.
&Direct and indirect torture is
meted out to HIV contaminateed women,& said Smriti Khadka, country director of ASHA Nepal, an organisation working to control girl
She said patriarchal values, women low literacy rate, their subjugated role in community, economic dependence, and lack of decision making
power were major causes of discrimination against women in Nepali society.
According to Khadka, there are also cases where women are forced
to live in sheds after the death of their husbands.
&Unable to bear such deplorable situation and psychological trauma, women have no option
but to leave home,& Khadka added.
&It is much only the women but also men with HIV also face discrimination,& said Anup Bastola, refer toant
tropical medicine physician at Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital, Teku.
TIll July 2018 there were 10,215 women suffering
from HIV, according to National Centre for AIDS and STD Control.
According to National Demographic Health Survey 2016, discriminatory
attitudes towards people living with HIV are more common among rural women and men (50 per cent and 37 per cent) compared to urban women and
men (35 per cent and 31 per cent).
As per Section 182 (2) of penal code, a person guilty of abandoning children, incapacitated person, sick
and elderly people could face jail term much exceeding three years and fine much exceeding Rs 30,000
If abandonment results in death of the above mentioned persons, then the guilty shall face a jail term up to seven years and fine up to Rs
70,000.
To mitigate discrimination of deprived section of the society, the government is coming up with awareness programmes
&Special programmes shall also be conducted in key population areas,& said Tara Nath Pokharel, director of NCASC.
The post HIV-positive
women being abandoned, facing social stigma seemed first on The Himalayan Times.
