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{{Short description|Indian HIV activist}}
{{Infobox person
| name = P Kausalya
| image = P. Kausalya Nari Shakti award (cropped).jpg
| image_size =
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| other_names =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = c. 1975
| birth_place =
| death_date =
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| education =
| occupation =
| employer = Advocate for Positive Women Network
| known_for = First Indian woman to admit to being HIV positive
| spouse = Died
| partner =
| children =
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| website =
| awards = [[Nari Shakti Puraskar]]
| footnotes =
}}

'''P Kausalya,''' aka '''Periasamy Kousalya''' (born c. 1975) is an [[Indian people|Indian]] HIV activist. She came to notice as the first woman to talk to the media about being one of India's [[HIV-positive people]]. She was awarded the [[Nari Shakti Puraskar]] in 2015 by the Indian government. She was one of four people who started the Positive Women Network to champion the rights of women who were HIV+.

== Life ==
She was born in about 1975 and when she was twenty she married her first cousin.<ref name="first"/> She had been brought up by her father and his wife as her mother had died when she was two. She didn't get on with her step mother and she was assured that her mother before she died had wanted her to marry her cousin.<ref name=coz>{{Cite web|last=Das|first=Deepannita|date=2019-03-28|title=HIV+ At 20 And At 46 Her Positive Voice Is Helping 30,000+ HIV Positive Woman To Live Without Stigma|url=https://lifebeyondnumbers.com/kousalya-perisamy-positive-women-network-helping-30000-hiv-positive-woman-to-live-without-stigma/|access-date=2020-07-04|website=LifeBeyondNumbers|language=en-US}}</ref> Two weeks after the wedding she felt ill and investigations revealed that she was HIV positive. She had contracted the infection from her husband and they were both soon taking what was said to be "cures". Information was not available, she says that a doctor told her to have her uterus removed. Her husband, a lorry driver, had known he was HIV positive before the marriage. They separated and he tried, unsuccessfully to marry again.<ref name=coz/> He killed himself and the media began taking interest in her story. They encouraged her to speak out and she made the brave decision that made her the first woman in India to identify herself as being HIV positive.<ref name=first>{{Cite web|title=World AIDS Day: Meet the first Indian Woman to come out openly as an AIDS victim|url=https://www.edexlive.com/people/2017/dec/01/world-aids-day-meet-the-first-indian-woman-to-come-out-openly-as-an-aids-victim-1702.html|access-date=2020-07-04|website=The New Indian Express|date=December 2017 }}</ref>

She was confused and scared and it was the news of Dr [[Suniti Solomon]]'s work that allowed her to get her life back in order. She continued to talk to the press but she would not allow her photo to be published. She and her family were worried by stories of HIV people being killed in India. After her housemates found out about her status then they shunned her.<ref name=coz/> In 1999 she became very ill with [[Tuberculosis]] and [[Meningitis]]. Drugs that would later cost 300 rupees then cost 7,500 rupees. Subsidised drugs would not be available for another five years.<ref name=first/> Luckily her uncle agreed to pay for her medicines.<ref name=coz/>

As one of the few HIV positive people willing to talk to the media she became involved in discussing discrimination and the marriage of HIV positive people to "innocent" partners.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Das|first=Dilip K.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vbSIDwAAQBAJ&dq=+kausalya+hiv&pg=PA98|title=Teaching AIDS: The Cultural Politics of HIV Disease in India|date=2019-02-18|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-981-13-6120-3|language=en}}</ref>

She was one of the founders of [[Positive Women Network]] with Varalakshmi, Jones and Hema. They created pressure on government organisations to supply information on HIV.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Manian|first=Sunita|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uv8nDwAAQBAJ&dq=Kausalya+&pg=PT255|title=HIV/AIDS in India: Voices from the Margins|date=2017-06-14|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-351-80648-0|language=en}}</ref> They have used India's commitment to the [[Millennium Development Goals]] to persuade the government to supply homes to destitute women and to argue for special treatment for widows who are HIV positive.

When ARV drugs were introduced as part of the [[Management of HIV/AIDS]] then the PWN arranged for one of their volunteers to monitor the delivery of treatment inside hospitals to improve the behaviour of staff.<ref name=":0" />

On [[International Women's Day]] in 2015 she received the [[Nari Shakti Puraskar]].<ref name=first/> She was one of the first eight [[Nari Shakti Puraskar|Nari Shakti Awards]] for her leadership and achievement the year before.<ref name="delhi">{{Cite magazine|date=March 9, 2015 |title=Stree Shakti Puraskar and Nari Shakti Puraskar presented to 6 and 8 Indian women respectively|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs/story/stree-shakti-puraskar-and-nari-shakti-puraskar-presented-to-6-and-8-indian-women-respectively-243468-2015-03-09|access-date=2020-07-03|magazine=India Today|language=en}}</ref> The award was made on [[International Women's Day]] from the then Indian President [[Pranab Mukherjee]].<ref>{{cite web|date=9 March 2017|title=Nari Shakti Puraskar awardees full list|url=https://www.bestcurrentaffairs.com/nari-shakti-puruskar-awardees-full-list|access-date=2020-07-03|website=Best Current Affairs}}</ref>

In 2020 she was President of the PWN and still arguing to resist discrimination against people who are HIV positive.<ref>{{Cite web|title=HIV+ patients can get drugs for other health problems at ART clinics|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2020/jan/11/hiv-patients-can-get-drugs-for-other-health-problems-at-art-clinics-2088075.html|access-date=2020-07-04|website=The New Indian Express|date=11 January 2020 }}</ref> She sells red ribbons to wear of [[World AIDS day]] for twenty rupees. She notes that the money is important, but so is wearing the ribbons as it shows that people support the cause.<ref name=first/>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Nari Shakti Puraskar}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kausalya, P.}}
[[Category:Indian HIV/AIDS activists]]
[[Category:Indian women activists]]
[[Category:1970s births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:Nari Shakti Puraskar winners]]

P. Kausalya - Revision history

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