{"id":1060,"date":"2015-06-05T14:59:04","date_gmt":"2015-06-05T14:59:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/case-reports\/?p=1060"},"modified":"2015-06-05T14:59:04","modified_gmt":"2015-06-05T14:59:04","slug":"jogini-culture-and-hiv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/case-reports\/2015\/06\/05\/jogini-culture-and-hiv\/","title":{"rendered":"Jogini Culture and HIV"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Manasi Jiwrajka<\/strong><\/p>\n

The case report HIV in India: the Jogini Culture<\/a> presents a case of a 32 year old Jogini from rural Andhra Pradesh who is HIV positive.<\/p>\n

\u2018Jogini\u2019, \u2018Devadasi\u2019 or \u2018Mathamma\u2019 are terms used to describe a girl committed to theogamy, or in other words, who is \u2018married\u2019 to a deity when she reaches puberty, and spends her entire life being sexually exploited by the deity\u2019s priests or devotees. (1-3). Although similar practices have existed in many ancient European and Middle Eastern cultures, this practice is currently prevalent in Andhra Pradesh, a state in southern India. It is estimated that there are 16,799 documented Joginis in Andhra Pradesh and 22,943 Devadasis in Karnataka. (1)<\/p>\n

Historically, the practice originated in medieval India when a woman \u201cwould become a Jogini in order to upkeep the services of the temple\u2026sweeping the temples, and carrying the utensils for workship.\u201d (1) However, the current practice involving sexual exploitation has emerged as a result of the caste system in India, and specifically due to \u201ca schism [that] appeared between the \u2018clean\u2019 and the \u2018unclean\u2019 castes,\u201d whereby the \u201cJogini from the \u2018unclean\u2019 castes were often pushed into the sexual exploitation,\u201d and women from the \u2018clean\u2019 castes were somewhat protected by The Madras Act V of 1929 or the 1934 Bombay Devadasi Protection Act that \u201ctried to emancipate the Jogini from their servitude.\u201d(1) Whilst technically the practice is prohibited in India since Indian Independence, clandestine practices still exist, and in fact, some argue that the \u201cefforts to abolish these practices since the days of British rule has increased the stigma attached to its victims and reinforced their risk of entry into commercial sex work.\u201d \u00a0Today, all Jogini or Devadasis are Dalit, or \u201cuntouchables\u201d from the lowest caste. (4)<\/p>\n

Inherently, the Jogini culture is religious in nature but other cultural beliefs also play a role in the continuation of these practices. For example, Borick mentions that the patient\u2019s father was worried about who would cremate him after his death, and his cultural beliefs dictated that \u201conly a son could light his funeral pyre.\u201d However, \u201csince he did not have a son, he was in danger of becoming a ghost,\u201d and as such he decided that if his daughter were a Jogini, \u201cbecause of her special relationship to Goddess Yellamma, she would be able to light his funeral pyre when he died.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of the Global Health issues that arise in this case are as follows:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Poverty<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lack of education<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gender Equality and Women Empowerment<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Child Mortality<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Maternal Health<\/p>\n

6.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 HIV\/AIDS<\/p>\n

It is important to note that this one case of the Jogini raises 6 out of the 8 issues that are addressed by the Millenium Development Goals.<\/p>\n

The patient\u2019s father, as previously mentioned, decided that his daughter should be a Jogini compelled by his poverty and lower socioeconomic status as a Dalit (or untouchable). In his case, poverty prevented him from paying a dowry, a cultural practice that still exists in India, and as such, \u201cthe options for his daughter were limited.\u201d<\/p>\n

Due to this poverty, or perhaps as a result of a lack of education and literacy among Dalits in general (5), \u201cthe patient never attended school.\u201d Dalit women \u201csuffer from 17% more illiteracy\u201d compared to women from other castes and \u201c92.8% of Jogini\u201d are illiterate. (1)<\/p>\n

Education is intrinsically linked to women\u2019s empowerment, child mortality, maternal health and HIV\/AIDS. \u201cEducation is one of the most important means of empowering women with the knowledge, skills and self-confidence necessary to participate fully in the development process.\u201d (5) Borick speculates that \u201cperhaps even a few years of primary school would have provided [the patient] with literacy skills and the confidence necessary to seek an alternative way to earn a living,\u201d(1) and had the patient been given educational opportunities, she would have had a different source of income.<\/p>\n

Additionally, literacy and child mortality are linked as well: \u201cin India, literate mothers have lower rates of severely stunted (40% compared with 44%) and severely underweight (7% compared with 9%) children when compared with illiterate mothers. For every 10% increase in female literacy in India, there is a 9\/1000 decrease in the child mortality rate.\u201d (1)<\/p>\n

Similarly, there is evidence to suggest that educated mothers have better maternal health compared to those who are not educated, as they have \u201ca greater spacing between pregnancies [and] the more education that woman has, the more likely she is to understand contraceptive methods taught by health workers including condom usage.\u201d (1)<\/p>\n

Safe contraceptive methods can prevent sexually transmitted diseases including HIV, which is \u201cfive times as high\u201d (2.6%) in Devadasi districts compared to the state average (0.52%). Joginis and Devadasis, are at a higher risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections \u201cdue to high risk sexual activity.\u201d Additionally, Jogini have a ten times higher mortality rate due to AIDS compared to the national average of women in India. (1)<\/p>\n

Whilst the Jogini culture is known only in India, similar \u2018ritual servitude\u2019 practices exist in other countries; the practice is known as \u2018deuki\u2019 in Nepal or \u2018trokosi\u2019 or \u2018vudusi\u2019 in Ghana, Togo and Benin wherein \u201ca female child, usually a virgin, is selected by her family to serve in a shrine in reparation for crimes committed by other members of the family.\u201d (6, 7) Therefore, similar global health issues exist around the world where just like the 32 year old patient, women are sexually exploited, come from rural areas, with a lack of educational opportunities and suffer severe discrimination.<\/p>\n

References
\n1. Borick J. HIV in India: the Jogini culture. BMJ Case Reports. 2014;2014.<\/p>\n

2. Black M. Women in Ritual Slavery: Devadasi, Jogini and Mathamma in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, Southern India*. Pakistan Journal of Women’s Studies = Alam-e-Niswan = Alam-i Nisvan. 2009;16(1\/2):179-205.<\/p>\n

3.Misra KK, Rao KK. Theogamy in Rural India: Socio-Cultural Dimensions of the “Jogini” System in Andhra Pradesh. Indian Anthropologist. 2002;32(1\/2):1-24.<\/p>\n

4.Torri M-C. Abuse of Lower Castes in South India: The Institution of Devadasi. Journal of International Women’s Studies. 2009;11(2):31-48.<\/p>\n

5. UNFPA. Report Of The International Conference On Population And Development. Cairo: UNFPA, 1994 1994. Report No.: (94\/10\/18).<\/p>\n

6. Ameh RK. Child bondage in Ghana: A contextual policy analysis of trokosi [Ph.D.]. Ann Arbor: Simon Fraser University (Canada); 2002.<\/p>\n

7. \u00a0CEDAW. Shadow Report on the 4th & 5th Periodic Report by The Government of Nepal on CEDAW. 2011<\/p>\n

This article is published under a CC-BY-NC licence<\/a> for permissions<\/em> email bmj.permissions@bmj.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Manasi Jiwrajka The case report HIV in India: the Jogini Culture presents a case of a 32 year old Jogini from rural Andhra Pradesh who is HIV positive. \u2018Jogini\u2019, \u2018Devadasi\u2019 or \u2018Mathamma\u2019 are terms used to describe a girl committed to theogamy, or in other words, who is \u2018married\u2019 to a deity when she […]<\/p>\n

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