The enemy within - Moniza Inam analyses the growing phenomenon of ‘feminisation’ of Aids

Now a widow and a mother of three young children, Najma Bano’s life changed last year after the death of her husband from whom she contracted the HIV virus. Her deteriorating health is coupled with no steady source of income and consequential social isolation and stigma.

A former pilot, who expired from Aids soon after his marriage, also has a widow Meher Ali in her 20s, who too has contracted the virus. Meher’s in-laws hold her responsible for their son’s death and have banished her from their home. She is currently in a prolonged legal battle to receive her rightful share of inheritance.

Now divorced, Naila Baloch, a 30-year-old woman living in Gwadar, has contracted the virus from her husband who worked in the Gulf. Upon learning of her health status, he divorced her and remarried a younger woman.

These women are casualties of the feminisation of Aids, a state of affairs where poverty, cultural practices and bigotry supplement one another to undermine the well-being of women. Dr Naseem Salahuddin, an infectious diseases specialist at Indus Hospital, Karachi, considers these women as the innocent bystanders as they acquired the disease passively through transmission from their spouses.

A recent study estimates that in the South Asia a staggering 40 per cent of the new HIV/Aids cases are women. Social exclusion, discrimination and denial of rights have contributed to this rising menace, whereas solution for reducing HIV statistics cannot be approached in seclusion to these issues.

Important factors including poverty, cultural practices, promiscuity, violence, legal structures and physiological factors, all contribute to rising numbers of HIV female patients. Perhaps more important than these factors is the issue of gender equality and disparity of power between men and women. A research by World Bank strongly concludes that ‘the more unequal the relations between men and women in a country or region, the higher its HIV prevalence rate; as it is largely fuelled by gender-based vulnerabilities and risks’.

Huma Khawar, a development journalist adds to this view, “Gender inequality, poverty and HIV/Aids are closely associated with each other. Young women from the age bracket of 15-24 years are more prone to the infection compared to the men from the same age group due to many reasons.”

Girls and young women usually lack access to appropriate information and resources to take preventive measures. Violation of women’s rights and asymmetrical power relations result in exerting less control over their bodies, and choices regarding sexual and reproductive health and rights. Being economically dependent, they are deprived of the liberty and control needed to make informed decisions about their health.

Research has proved and confirmed a strong correlation between various forms of abuse and its link to contracting the virus.
Violence against women often results in non-consensual, unsafe sex which increases the likelihood of transmission. Inequality in relationships and power dynamics prevent women from asking their partners to use safe measures, get tested and seek treatment, explains Khawar.

This phenomenon is a direct consequence of unequal power and gender relations prevalent in our society, whereby women receive less education, healthcare, employment and decision making power in an average household. Elaborating the issue, Farhat Firdous, senior manager communication at Aahung, adds, “Apart from pervasive discrimination, women face gender subordination in marital life. They are supposed to submit their body and soul to their husbands even if they are terminally ill, suffering form STIs (sexually transmitted infections) or in the extreme cases, Aids.”

Dr Tahira Aftab, former Director of Women Studies Centre and founding editor of Journal for Women Studies/ Alam-i-Niswan, describes such marital relations as sexual slavery, and adds, “The emerging epidemic of the HIV/Aids is a direct result of this school of thought in which women have no control or rights over their own bodies.”

Economic and social empowerment is yet another factor in the prevention of the virus among women. Due to the patriarchal organisation of society, girls are provided with little or no education and are married off at an early age. This dependence can force women to accept the sexual demands of unfaithful husbands and even if they are aware that their husbands are infected they cannot move out of the relationship.

Dr Nashmia Mahmood, a health officer with Unicef, says, “Financially independent women who are aware of their rights, and can make their own decisions are much more capable of protecting themselves against the virus.” However, Mahmood has also stressed the importance of legal protection as it would help the vulnerable groups, including women, significantly. She cites the Malaysian model as a best example in which men are legally bound to disclose their HIV/Aids positive status to their wives.

Dr Shazra Abbass, a health officer on HIV/Aids with Unicef, concurs with this model and adds that the disease, in fact, has become an issue of gender equity and equality as women’s rights are, by and large, violated in our society. Initially information about reproductive health and the virus is not given to them due to social and cultural taboos and eventually if they are infected the treatment is denied and female patients have to face prejudice, exclusion and in some cases they are even thrown out of the house.

Gender inequality is indeed an overriding issue which has aggravated the spread of HIV, and stalled controlling the feminisation of HIV/Aids. Women’s health should not be compartmentalised and it should be looked at on a broader and structural level keeping in view all such underlying factors.

Journalists unanimous that conflict coverage is less than optimal in South Asia... Observations from Media Summit

Another South Asian Media Summit was held in Goa Nov 23-25, 2011, sponsored by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, a German government funded organisation. The theme of this year's summit was 'Inter-State Conflict and the role of the media'.

I was a bit disheartened that more than two-thirds of experienced journalists from almost all South Asian countries (except Bangladesh and the Maldives) were male, as compared to last year's summit which had more women journalists attending, predictably because the theme was 'gender'.

Nonetheless, very insightful experiences were shared and impassioned arguments made, which prompted me to share my thoughts (in no particular order) in this blog post...

- The first session implied that South Asia has the most protracted inter-state conflicts and this made me curious. Do we know which region of the world has had the most conflicts within its own peoples? Might be a good research topic...

- Mohsin Babbar, a journalist and one of the few experts on the Indus water dispute in Pakistan, mentioned that the Aman ki Asha program was a good India-Pak peace initiative.

- Have you heard the term proxy war? I never really understood what it meant until someone at the summit explained it as militant groups that fight each other on behalf of governments so that actual governments don't look bad. What a sham!

- How do you see the link between politics and media? Do you think the media is politicised or do you think there is a mediaisation of politics? I guess both are true today...

- It was suggested to watch the Wikileaks video of the journalist being gunned down by a helicopter pilot in Iraq to hamper his coverage of the conflict. An act that proves the US is embarrassed about their bloody activities in Iraq?

- A Sri Lankan academic at the University of Peredeniya 'Carmen Wickramagamage' astutely pointed to Louis Althuser, a French Marxist's observation years ago that the State perpetuates dominant ideology through the media. I'm sure the same can be argued for the corporate world.

- She also pointed out an unfortunate editorial about a Lesbian conference in Colombo, which incited rape to 'show them the right way'. When a gay rights organisation complained to the press council, they responded that the newspaper was right to publish the offensive editorial because lesbians are 'sadistic'.

- Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, a reporter who spent several years telling the story of the people of Lalgarh said 'One percent of Jharkhand rule and one percent of the state's population engage in armed conflict. Reporters need to represent the remaining 98%. Reporters need to be activists representing the people's voices'. Bravo!

- Vipul Mudgal presented an 'inclusive media for change' website that provides analysis the press can use to better cover development issues.

Also here are some of my suggestions that came out of the summit, do comment if you agree or disagree...

- It struck me when someone mentioned how it was perhaps difficult to find sources willing to speak on the record while reporting about conflict issues, that we need to have a witness protection program in India and the media needs to be a vociferous watchdog when it comes to protecting whistle-blowers. That would encourage more people to speak out for justice.

- Media literacy needs to be popularised in South Asia so that ordinary viewers understand how the media can be manipulated and so they don't take everything as gospel truth. This will also lead to greater public demands for an accountable media.

- Advocate Ashraj Wani from Kashmir also argued for a journalists code of ethics and I agree. I was surprised that the body language of most of the senior reporters in the room implied there was no code of ethics being mandated in their newsrooms! I hope all the journalism curricula in India/ South Asia have ethics as a required course, as I know is required to study in a Master's degree syllabus in the U.S.

- I think the media also needs to elucidate audiences about their country's legal obligations under the UN's human rights framework as this is a good way to hold the State accountable for their human rights record. The public should be made aware of which international covenants have been ratified and concluding observations should be tracked.

- Sustainability is a huge obstacle for citizen journalism models, which are needed so that alternative information and marginalised voices are allowed to bubble up to the surface. This will ensure a healthy democracy, for if marginalised voices are not heard, then revolution brews. We also need alternative media to balance the mainstream hegemonic view of society.

- Women can support solutions-oriented reporting. In my experience, this garners more eyeballs.

- We need to organise a conference on online journalism/ new media in India.

- Journalists need to be trained in critical analyses so that they are making more than mundane observations. This may sound oversimplified but if you were watching the news around 26/11, you would agree that we never heard any discussion about 'why they want to attack us', only when/ where/ how. I was really interested in hearing people's thoughts on what perceptions are floating around in Pakistan that are being used to conjure up hatred for India, to provoke young boys to heinous crimes?

SOMETHING FOR THIS TEACHER’S DAY

“When life wants to bless you, it gives you a teacher”, this quote stands so true for a group of kids at a small school named AKSHAR in Chandigarh. In spite of lacking adequate means of attending a regular school, these kids are getting necessary basic education, thanks to the efforts of Mrs. Vandana Aggarwal.

She has been managing the school, on her own, for more than one and a half year now, but according to her, she has just started. Rome might not have been built in a day, but the school definitely was! As Vandana tells her story, on one day she came up with the idea of starting the school and the very next day, there it was – complete with books, blackboard , a teacher and of course, the students. After a year and a half, there are three teachers who take classes for Nursery and KG in English, Hindi, Mathematics, Art and Moral Science.

Taking a break from regular studies, students are encouraged to take part in extracurricular activities and events. One such event included a talent show, where the students exhibited all sorts of skill by enacting a skit, reciting poems and singing songs. Each and every student participated to make the show a grand success.

All work and no play would make the kids dull, so the school arranges frequent trips for the kids to nearby places like Chhatbir, Sukhna Lake, Rock Garden, Pinjore Garden or any latest movie, giving them a fun-filled break from their routine. Since the children belong to the very poor backgrounds, and there are hardly any medical facilities available to them, the school organizes regular health check-ups for the kids in collaboration with the Fortis Hospital, Chandigarh. The staff visits the school once a month for general health, eye check up etc. It was one such routine checkup that helped save the life of one of the students, Robin, who otherwise might not have survived.

Adding yet another feather to its cap, the school hosted a meditation camp on 3^rd September, where “Brahm Kumaris” from a nearby Ashram visited the school.

They talked about the importance of good manners and values in life and played a game to demonstrate the need of being focused in life. And now the school plans to make this a monthly feature.

Vandana has lots of dreams for the school and kids like incorporating a library and a “playroom”, starting vocational classes for young girls and lots more. Her endless energy and enthusiasm is highly contagious and inspiring. She sparkles with excitement every time she talks about her ideas. And why not, she knows she’ll be making a difference, a positive one, in someone’s life….

Fewer Asian women marrying - trend must be growing in India too?

This Economist article says China and India are not visibly affected by the trend of fewer women choosing to marry and have children in Asia. But I think it depends on which class you're looking at. It seems that a growing number of career-minded urban middle class women are single. Surprisingly it says there will be 60m (million?) more men than women in China and India by 2050!

15 of the First Female Professors in History

Jasmine Hall writes in sharing this great new blog post from her site...Inspiring read - about Greek, other European and American professors.

Can someone research this in India? Nalanda University must have had some female professors?

Wave trainee needs support for further education - please help!

My name is Vandana. I left home when I was 20 due to disagreements
with my family over marriage and further education. I have not
disclosed my location to them since then so I avoid using my last name
due to the fear of being tracked as I also fear for my physical
security.

I have been accepted into Prague Film School, Czech Republic to study
documentary filmmaking, for the term starting in September 2011 and
finishing in May 2012.

For two years I worked at Jagori Grameen, a grassroots NGO
in HP which was started by Abha Bhaiya, a well-known women's rights activist in
India. I was also a videoblogger at WAVE (Women Aloud:
Videoblogging for Empowerment). To see some of my videoblogs, go to
http://waveindia.org/bio.php?bid=4

I don't have
the financial means to pay for my education but I do have a vision. I
want to study documentary film-making because I want to travel across
India and around the world, meet people who live on the margins and
voice their issues by making politically and socially relevant films.
Having seen so much violence in my own life and emerging against it
has inspired me to make films which give a voice to those who suffer from violence so
that we can work towards the creation of a just and violence-free
world. If I get this opportunity to study in Prague Film School I will
inspire, encourage and motivate many women like me to dare to dream.

I have received 100% scholarship to cover my tuition fees which is 14,
800 euros. I require more funds to cover my airfare. computer, camera
and living expenses in Prague. I have already raised 5,000 euros.
I need to raise an additional 3,50,000 rupees. Can you help me in any
way with doing that? I just have 10 days before I leave and this is
very urgent.

With this email I am sending you my resume, my application materials
for Prague Film School which include my statement of purpose/college
essay, recommendation letters from Abha Bhaiya and Sapna Shahani and a
video titled Gaddi weavers in Himachal which has been produced by me.

MEDIA AND THE IMAGES IT PORTRAYS : GENDER PERSPECTIVES

Public exposure to media is like flesh to the body and so is its impact on us. The images in media mould our opinion and affect the way in which we see the world around us.

Television is the spinal source of information for the youth of today. The youth reflect what they see and try to emulate that in their day to day lives. The way in which women are represented in the media, especially on television could lead to the continued oppression of women and the continued belief that they are the objects of male satisfaction (the pervasiveness of such stereotyping is evident in advertising).

In the early 1970s there was an upswing in feminist movement which affected the television market as many women oriented issues were taken up by the tele directors. But there was a fall in the trend by the next decade itself therefore the impact was somewhat limited. The images in the media have by and large proved to be detrimental to women as the portrayal of such imagery has clearly reasserted the patriarchal superstructure rather than helping women assert their own ground. Images running through the media not only affect men’s behavior but also affect women’s interpretation of conducting themselves in a particular fashion. The images that prevail in the media are social dangers to women as it circumscribes them from breaking the societal stereotypes.

Media as an agent of socialization (Holtzman,p.76,Weimann,p.20). Sreberny and van Zoonen p.226) stated also in the meaning theory that “by presenting endless portrayals of reality in its content, mass communications provide experiences from which we collectively shape our meanings” and in this way not only does the media influences the society but it also upholds the current societal values and views solidifying the societal norms of the time and hence aiding in creating the social structure.

If we compare the decades of 50’s and 60’s where the women performed their “engendered roles” of submitting to their husbands and were affectionate and consummate homemakers, only 32% of women were seen in television characterization. Later on during mid 70’s as mentioned earlier a slight transformation was seen which also was not that long lasting. For instance, the Charlie’s Angels who were the epitome of strong, tough and independent women crime fighters also worked and took orders from the mysterious male Charlie. In addition, they were dressed to accommodate the male gaze that in no way makes them epitome of impressive independent female crime fighters or women who know what they want.

Another important point to be noted is that women in television are more concerned about sex and marriage as compared to their male counterparts. The Indian television is flooded with the stereotypical storylines comprising of “kitchen politics” where women hold their ground in terms of back biting at domestic level, decorating themselves with ornaments and rearing their children in the most “moral and pro societal” ways. Society’s bias is so commonplace and is more or less a normative thing for the society to commoditize women in terms of their beauty and the kind of work that is “allowed” to them.

The images of professional women which are also taking up the television industry are problematic. The “superwoman” imagery of women who are able to prove their acumen at work and are also identified as model home makers and mothers give the illusion that professional women are capable of “multi tasking” and they can be able breadwinners and at the same time can handle domestic chores without any extended help. This is not a favorable situation for women in any way. There is a great deal of “illusion” of celebrating the spirit of womanhood. When the women were toiling their voices for equality in job, it now seems that the media imagery is depicting women having achieved their aspirations as television every now and then comes up with images of equality won and women across the country are empowered. There is a created sense of women having no reason to fight over anything or demanding equality because the “media reality” depicts the realization of such equality which leaves no reason to fight.

When we see the news on the television, there we witness the male and the female news anchors and along with the “weather girls” which are also a measure of amusement. In addition to this, while participating in interviews women are much more likely to be asked questions about their love life than men while men in all probabilities would be questioned about their careers, goals and accomplishments.

Also issues affecting women are also not issues of grave concern, the issues are mostly overlooked as they are “not to be brought beyond the realm of private”. We rarely hear about the stoning of women in Afghanistan and the genital mutilations that prevail all over Africa and the Middle East. Marital rapes, domestic abuse and wage inequality are also some of the issues which are not brought out into the open.

Also the women issues which are covered did not involve any sort of interpretation in terms of critical thinking of the issues rather they were merely taken to be at the face value and were more or less left at that.

Women depicted in the music videos and other “glamour” performances is another major source of commoditization of women where women are nothing more than merely objects of male desire and the sexual violence in such videos adds to the desirability quotient of the male gaze. The fast growing trend of artificial treatments like “plastic surgeries” and “liposuctions” to turn attractive overnight is also part of “fitting” well in the male gaze where one caters to somebody else’s expectations rather than their own.

Women have been effectively portrayed in the typecast gender roles where the advertisers can sell domestic use products to the ever smiling happy mothers who are symbolic of happy homemakers having no issues with their condition.