Gay ruling to assist in fight against HIV AIDS
POSTED July 4, 2009 - 16:21 | POSTED BY Jyoti Pal
Last edited by Priya Markanda on July 4, 2009 - 17:58
The old legislation, drafted by Lord Macaulay in 1860, stated "whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment.”
The Delhi High court ruling on Thursday that legalized consensual intercourse between adults of the same sex has changed that all. And with that change come a whole lot of questions, many of which can be answered only with passage of time.
Help crusade against STDs
The pros and cons of the judgment would be many. All said and done, besides making the gay community absolutely ecstatic, the judgment brings in its wake a very huge plus for the entire country.
The High Court directive comes as a boon for the country's National AIDS Control Organization. Health experts aver that the ruling would be a very potent tool in the battle against the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) as the clandestine gay community was a high-risk faction.
How the ruling would actually help to combat HIV/AIDS and other such diseases is explained by Dr Charles Gilks from UNAIDS.
Dr Gilks noted, “Section 377 of the IPC, that made homosexuality a criminal offence, was an impediment to our working effectively with the MSM (Men having Sex with Men) community. Fear of harassment made them stay underground, thereby making it difficult for us to map the size of this community."
"It will take a long time for the public attitude towards MSMs to change. But Thursday's judgment will make it easier for us to reach out to the MSM community and include them in targeted interventions that will protect them against HIV by making sex between males safer," he added.
The HIV scare in MSM category
India has been witnessing a disquieting increase in HIV infections among MSM faction of the society. According to data shared by NACO the prevalence of HIV in MSM is the highest among all high risk groups.
According to estimates, nearly 2.35 million MSMs inhabit the country. Given the low access to correct information and limited condom availability to them, close to 15 percent of them have already contracted HIV.
Thrusdays judgment will help MSMs shun the embarrassment factor and enable them to come out in the open and avail of all the medical facilities and information to make their lives healthier.
