asians undercover
and to break taboos around testing."
Maharashtra to Manchester - and back
Raksha Khan is a long-time campaigner involved in HIV prevention work
in north Manchester. She has worked hard to battle against sexism and
ignorance in the Asian communities in Oldham.
She says: "I find that many of the young generation are actually
more confused than their elders. UK Asian families are still importing
brides from the villages. These girls have little education, they come
here and no testing is encouraged or even suggested. The boys can have
lots of fun and no questions are asked. The girl gets pregnant. She finds
out she and her baby have HIV. She is an outcast and may get sent back
to Pakistan or India. If her child is female, and positive, the child
is returned too. If it's a boy, then it's likely the baby will stay.
"Over the last two years, I have known of many babies that got sent
back to Asia, with or without their mothers. I've been over there many
times and only traced three children who 'disappeared'."
Racism and religion
Overcoming racial issues is a big difficulty when it comes to HIV prevention
work.
Parminder says: "Asians living in Bradford can have totally different
religious faiths, languages and life skills to Asians living in Tower
Hamlets or in Camden, especially when it comes to jobs, education, racist
dilemmas and so on.
"To get these communities to address things like HIV awareness, drug
use, or same-sex issues, can be seen as a threat or distraction. Especially
when that group's only
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common binding force is the focus on fighting racism for economic and
