Women and AIDS caregiving: women's work?

In this ethnographic study, I examine personal, kinship, and social obligations and the role of women in the traditional Thai family. Under what circumstances do women take on the responsibility to care or not care, and how do they cope with the disease and care when they are also infected? Fifteen women who were afflicted or affected by HIV/AIDS participated in in-depth interviews and participant observations. Analysis employed mainly qualitative methods following Spradley. I show that women who are responsible for caring for both themselves and others, including members of their immediate families or extended family members, face a double jeopardy by virtue of their inferior role and status. When HIV-infected women experience illness, sometimes they feel split; they are incapable of functioning normally, yet they are obligated to do "What they've got to do." Women as carers feel that they have to care because they want to free someone else from suffering despite the fact that they are also suffering. Women roles as family carers seem to be both psychologically and socially constructed. AIDS care is not just a labour of love, but also is done in the spirit of work following Buddhist beliefs of karma and metta. In conclusion, traditional, persistent gender imbalances and inequalities influence women's sexuality, vulnerability, responsibility, and caregiving. When women become infected with HIV and sick with AIDS, their quality of life drops because of the physical, psychological, cultural value, and economic burdens of care they face. AIDS then necessitates rather than prevents women from fulfilling their multiple roles. Consequently, there is a need for greater support especially among Thai women who are afflicted and affected with AIDS.