Gender, Sexuality and HIV/AIDS : Exploring Politics of Women’s Health in India by Skylab Sahu, 2015, New Delhi : SAGE
Publications, pp-210, Rs. 672/-.
The book as evident from its name “Gender, Sexuality and HIV/ AIDS”, is an attempt to explore avalabilility, affordability and adequacy of heath care provision in India with a special focus on women living with HIV/AIDS. In it, the issue of heath care provisions has been looked from the perspective of human rights and gender. The book primarily talks about provision taken by Indian Government in catering the patient (specially women with HIV/AIDS) with health care services and also examines how this has manipulated society's insight of the disease as well as the patient's themselves with special reference to studies conducted in West Bengal and Karnataka .
With special interest on gender, health and right based issue, author Dr. Sahu, in her work put forward sincere effort to explore and scrutinize the dimensions of women's health and health care services, gender equity measures and strategies executed by Indian state. These issues have been discussed in details by considering HIV / AIDS as the central theme. Being a woman she herself realizes and therefore beautifully highlighted the susceptibility and powerlessness of the women folk towards forced sexual relation leaving her infected with HIV/AIDS. Through this book the young author aspires to appraise the role of the Civil Society Organizations in safeguarding the rights of HIV positive women. She has also penned down the chronology of health movements in India. Original and first hand data accumulated from the studies carried out in the state of Karnataka and West Bengal has provided an empirical foundation to the facts depicted in the book. The author has also furnished case studies of service delivery organizations pertinent to the specific themes of the particular book.
The first chapter of the book sketches an outline of important ———————————
concepts and discourse on health rights in India and focuses on theoretical framework. The second chapter scrutinizes policy executed by state towards women’s health. It talks about the major health committees in India like the National Planning Committee and Bhore committee from the point of view of gender rights perspective. This particular chapter also portrays an analysis of population policies, health policies and national AIDS policy in India. The third chapter demonstrates the socio-cultural conditioning underlying the physical vulnerabilities of women to HIV/ AIDS. It highlights on women’s vulnerability after the HIV/ AIDS infection and analyses the resistance by HIV positive women against their suppression in a patriarchal society.
The fourth chapter delineates women's and social sector spending and health measures taken in selected states. Women's health conditions are also discussed in reference to the selected states. It also strives to study the approach and stance of states towards HIV /AIDS people in general and HIV positive women in particular. The fifth chapter confers about the role of civil society working on health issues in India. Approach of CSOs towards HIV/AIDS affected people in the states of Karnataka and West Bengal is outlined. The chapter discusses the different types roles played by CSOs in both the states. The chapter includes both case studies and qualitative analysis to identify the difference in the role of CSOs operating in both the states. It also analyses the limitation associated with the CSOs. The Sixth chapter deals with the area of overlap and exclusion coming out of the interaction between health movements and CSOs. The chapter also attempts to analyze health movement and CSOs politically active function towards HIV/AIDS. It further accentuates the role and loop holes of CSOs and health movements in the light of a social movement. The Concluding chapter enumerates the major findings of the study.
This book is an attempt to find an answer to the frequently uttered question that “What has been the role of Indian State in providing health care facilities to women with HIV/ AIDS. To carry out this objective, author has carried out a detailed study on health care facilities in two sates of India. One state is West Bengal which is a low risk state and another is Karnataka which is a high risk state. The author very ingeniously strives to compare the role these
two states at per decisive factors like prevalence of HIV/AIDS, infrastructure, state policy, awareness, and protection of health rights. This unique endeavor strengthened by original and current data from the field has portrayed a comprehensible image about the role of state, which may in future act as a guideline for the researchers and policy makers to produce more feasible intervention policies for improving women’s health simultaneously by protecting her rights.
Among several research studies on the women with HIV/AIDS, the exclusivity of this book has been established by author’s attempt to dissect the role of State in providing proper health care to the women with HIV/AIDS, in the context of protection of women right. She has rightly coined the term “Gender Justice”. She has skillfully
established the significance of the intervention of CSO’s in highlighting gender justice, as a consequence of failure on the part of the government in following feasible equity measures for provisions of heath care services. She has presented an empirical and comparative study on the functions of the CSOs in both the state with special reference to service delivery and advocacy. Use of case study of CSOs (Arunodoya, Karnataka and KOLNP+, West Bengal) as example has made the essay more lucid and easily understandable for the readers.
Another distinctive feature of this book is that the author not only describes the health movement in India from its emergence, but she has also penned down the reasons for a not very strong alliance formed between the CSOs and the social movements in spite of having resemblances in aims, principles and the strategies of the both. So it can be stated that this literary work of the author can be very productive for the active CSOs as they can get an essence of their shortcomings in contributing towards the movement for health equity.
This being the first book of the author, it really demands admiration. The book is very informative both in respect of description of facts and first hand data along with statistical records. The book provides a chronology of the health discourse in India, from the view point of gender and right of the women. The book will be very helpful for both the researchers working in the field of health and gender issue. This book has also uttered several quarries
regarding provision of health care services to the second gender, which will induce the policy makers to review the whole health care system. Last but not the least this book can be a guide for the new researchers who are passionate for altering the existing system by citing original facts fresh from the field and creating more favorable conditions for the underprivileged section of the society.
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