Inequalities in women’s empowerment and prevalence of HIV in India
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20203380Keywords:
Empowerment, Inequality, HIV prevalence, Marital control, Sexual rights, ViolenceAbstract
Background: Over the years, there has been growing evidence of continuous narrowing gender gap in new HIV infections, despite stagnation in overall HIV prevalence in India. Among others, one of the reasons behind the exiting pattern in HIV/AIDS in the country is the poor status of women, lack of control over their sexuality and poor reproductive and sexual rights.
Methods: This paper analyses the troika of women’s empowerment, spousal-violence, and HIV prevalence in India using data from two rounds (2005-2006 and 2015-2016) of Indian DHS having a community-based HIV testing.
Results: Results corroborate the recent spurts in women’s empowerment in India, which cuts across socio-economic groups. It has positively influenced a decline in spousal-violence even in the lowest socio-economic strata despite significant inequality across states. HIV prevalence among women has not been changed over the last decade (0.22% to 0.23%) despite decreased adult HIV prevalence. Women having control over their sexuality is significantly less likely to have HIV infection. Relationship between marital control behavior of husband and HIV prevalence, which was significant in 2005-06 (OR=1.2, p<0.10), has emerged to be insignificant in 2015-16. This means that increasing women's empowerment has altered their HIV prevalence through increasing sexual-rights and reducing the intensity of marital control behavior.
Conclusions: A combative relationship has been established between women’s empowerment and their risk of HIV/AIDS. The results have been consistently showing the variations of inequality in women’s empowerment across different states, consequently affecting the risk of HIV/AIDS. Ensuring sexual-rights of women should be the best strategy.
References
Annan K. Empowering women the most effective development tool. UN News Center. Available at: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=13478). Accessed on 27th February 2020.
Chamar V. Short Essay on Gender Inequality. Social Issues in India. 2015. Available at: https://www.the wisdompost.com/essay/gender-equality-in-india-essay/3289. Accessed on 02 May 2020.
Mondal P. Essay on Women Empowerment in India. Young Article Library. 2015. Available at: https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/essay/essay-on-women-empowerment-in-india/31317. Accessed on 02 May 2020.
Raju S, Jatrana S. Women workers in Urban India. 1st edition. Cambridge University Press. 2016.
Gill R, Stewart DE. Relevance of gender-sensitive policies and general health indicators to compare the status of South Asian women's health. Women’s Health Issues. 2011;21(1):12-8.
Duhan R. A study of the status of Indian Women under different Legislations. Innovare J Social Sci. 2014;2(2):23475544.
Chatterjee P. The Partha Chatterjee Omnibus: Nationalist Thought and the Colonial World, The Nation and Its Fragments, A Possible India. Oxford University Press. UK edition. 1999.
Conceptual shifts for sound planning: towards an integrated approach to HIV/AIDS and poverty. Available at: http:// catalogue. safaids. net/publications/conceptual-shifts-sound-planning-towards-integrated-approach-hivaids-and-poverty-0. Accessed on 12 January 2020.
The World Bank. Confronting AIDS: public priorities in a global epidemic. New York: Oxford University Press. 1997.
UN. The United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women Beijing, China - Action for Equality, Development and Peace. 1995.
International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) and ICF. National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4), 2015-16: India. Mumbai: IIPS.2017. Available at: http://rchiips.org/nfhs/NFHS-4Reports/India.pdf. Accessed on 12 January 2020.
UNAIDS report on the global AIDS epidemic. Available at: https:// www.unaids.org/ sites/default/ files/media_asset/UNAIDS_Global_Report_2013_en_1.pdf. Accessed on 12 January 2020.
Hackett T. Domestic violence against women: statistical analysis of crimes across. India J Comparative Family Studies. 2011;42(2):267-88.
Thompson JC, Kao TC, Thomas R. The relationship between alcohol use and risk taking sexual behaviours in a large behavioural study. Preventive Medicine. 2005;41:247-52.
