Women are on the losing end of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the country. Due to the lack of autonomy that the patriarchal system provides them, diseases are out to get them too. There is no check and balance or awareness regardless of male carriers of the disease who infect their wives, knowingly. The only province in the country that has pushed forward legislation regarding the case is Sindh, but proving willing infection in a court of law is almost always impossible. The risk of taking one’s husband to court is also manifold because the tag of a divorcee is higher than that of someone who was knowingly infected or abused.
It is very easy to catch this disease. Men who are infected are most often involved in adultery, abuse drugs or have been exposed to the virus due to a reused medical instrument. There are cases where, despite contracting the disease, they do not follow through with the advice of the doctors to use contraceptives; thus, they infect their wives too. The social reaction to a woman contracting the disease is quite abnormal as compared to the acceptance of men contracting the disease. Women are kept within the walls of their homes, not allowed to touch anything in the house, kept away from their children, and the society refuses to interact with them because the common misconception is that HIV can only be contracted through sexual intercourse - thus blaming these women for adultery and often taking away their lives as well.
The prevalence of HIV/AIDS is a well-known problem that the government needs to address. The health sector of Pakistan is in shambles, and the patriarchal values and the parochial concerns of people end up impacting the womenfolk in the country. Women in urban centres are somewhat aware of the situation; however, the rural areas have a mass number of cases of women contracting the disease. Awareness campaigns need to be devised along with an understanding of the government’s part that women in the population need separate and focused policymaking. Sticking to the current setup will reinforce the conventional belief system and ensure that women remain at the losing end of the spectrum. With no financial means of their own, there is very little that they can do for themselves. In such a situation, the law of the country should offer some relief for such a segment of society.