Why ZERO Discrimination is Crucial To Ending AIDS in India?
“Within a year into my marriage, my husband fell ill and quickly became bedridden. He was diagnosed with HIV and AIDS . My health was normal at that time but in the routine spouse test, I too tested HIV positive. I didn’t know much about HIV except that it is a deadly disease. I was young and terrified. Instead of supporting me, my husband and his family began abusing me. They blamed me for infecting my husband. They started questioning my character. Eventually, they literally kicked me out of the house and I had no choice but to return to my parents”, says Dimple who was rejected by her in-laws for no fault of hers. Another young mother says, “I was neglected and denied of proper care by healthcare workers during the birth of my second child because of my HIV status. It is the deepest pain that I live with that I couldn’t protect my child from getting infected with HIV.” Discrimination of any form and in any place is a violation of human rights and a barrier to achieving a ...