HIV in South Asian Culture with NHS Consultant and activist

"Three-quarters of women with HIV in the UK are BAME..."In episode seven, I talk to Dr Rageshri Dhairyawan, an NHS Consultant who’s also a Sexual Health & HIV activist, working primarily among South Asian womxn. Many of whom have contracted the virus through their husbands, but are unable to tell anyone because of the stigma around HIV.Plus an interview with Mina Kakaiya, who’s had HIV for 20 years and is now an activist working to help other South Asian womxn tackle the stigma associated with HIV.Both Rageshri & Mina who have such passion and compassion in their work, help us look at HIV in a totally different way.We explore: • The shame and secrecy that surround HIV in South Asian culture • How stigma prevents South Asian womxn with HIV seeking support • How shame is such a huge part of South Asian culture MORE ABOUT DR. RAGESHRI:Dr Rageshri Dhairyawan is a Consultant in Sexual Health and HIV at Barts Health NHS Trust and an Honorary Senior Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London. Her clinical work, teaching and research focuses on health inequalities, especially on the intersections between health, race and gender. She is an elected trustee of the British HIV Association, medical board member of NAZ, a charity specialising in the sexual health of minority ethnic communities and has recently joined the Race and Health collective. She has recently co-founded SAHAR, the South Asian HIV Advisory Resource and is passionate about reducing the stigma of talking about sex, sexuality and sexual health in South Asian communities in the UK.Twitter: @crageshriInsta: @crageshriMORE ABOUT MINA:Mina Kakaiya is a social entrepreneur, speaker, author and wellbeing coach. She is a trainer in mental health, emotional resilience and mindfulness. And has been a volunteer peer mentor with Positively UK and informed national BHVIA HIV standards for Peer Support. She has also been involved in HIV campaigns and national and is an international speaker on HIV.Twitter: @KakaiyaMinaLinkedIn: @mina-kakaiyaRESOURCES:If you’ve been affected by the themes of this episode, please check out these resources:NAZPOSITIVELY UKTERRENCE HIGGINS TRUSTTHE FOODCHAINAIDSMAPORGANISATIONS FOCUSSED ON SEXUAL HEALTH FOR SOUTH ASIANSNAZ & MATT FOUNDATIONIMAANCYSTERSMentioned in this episode:Inspiring feminist memoir Bad DaughterBad Daughter is my story of going from Mumbai’s slums to New York’s Billboards, with a healing stopover in Kerala. But it’s your story too. It doesn’t matter where you come from, it doesn’t matter what happened to you. You still get to have the life you want. That's the message of this book. My memoir Bad Daughter is deeply personal. I talk about growing up in poverty. I talk about my father’s violence, my mother’s murder. I talk about how I turned my pain into power, navigating mental health, sexuality, spirituality & patriarchy. If you’re looking for a book to move you and inspire you to change your own life, buy this book on Amazon: https://shorturl.at/TDC7g. Or buy directly on my website: https://baddaughter.co.uk/about/ Bad Daughter is an essential feminist book, this inspirational memoir is for every woman who wants to break free. This powerful memoir is a reminder that the courage to be your authentic self can transform your own life – and the lives of those around you.