Main description:

India ranks third in the number of people living with HIV/AIDS globally. The country has high levels of poverty and inequality, poor healthcare infrastructure, especially away from the metropolitan areas, and a legacy of colonialism that bequeathed laws criminalizing non-heteronormative sexualities. These factors mean that many minority groups do not receive adequate access to preventative and treatment programs.

This book explores the HIV/AIDS epidemic in India. Based on research in Tamil Nadu, it presents experiences of those marginalized by their sexuality and/ or gender, their struggles and their triumphs. Based on interviews with male and female sex-workers, men who have sex with men, aravanis (male to female transgenders) and HIV positive women-groups usually not included in the policy-making by Indian government agencies, international donors and international NGOs-the author uses an interdisciplinary approach. The approach highlights the historical and cultural context, while providing contemporary narratives. The book thus presents a deeper, multi-dimensional, understanding of the context of the disease and comprehends the roots of the stigma and discrimination that exacerbate the epidemic.

An important study of the global HIV/AIDS epidemic, this book will be of interest to researchers in the field of South Asian Studies, Sexuality and Gender Studies, Health Sciences and Public Health.

Contents:

1. Introduction: Chronicle of a Disease Foretold

2. Non-Heteronormative Desire: Then and Now

3. My Life is Nothing But a Question Mark: Stories of Sexual Minorities

4. One Foot in the River, One Foot in the Mud: The Perils of Living a Double-Life

5. Changing Status of Non-conjugal Heterosexuality in India

6. Take Our Truth to the World: Challenges and Aspirations of Sex-Workers

7. There is was no Wrongdoing on my Part, Sister: Shame, Stigma among Women Living with HIV/AIDS

8. Should we Not Live a Life? HIV Positive Women's Tales of Hope and Survival

9. The Way Forward: Advocacy and Change