Red Black White, de Nazik Armenakyan
Finalist of the 26th edition of the Luis Valtueña International Humanitarian Photography Award of Médicos del Mundo.
“Red Black White,” is a project about several women’s fates that have actually altered dramatically due to the diagnosis of HIV, typically obtained in marital relationship.
Females dealing with HIV in Armenia are normal residents originating from traditional families. Due to bad socioeconomic conditions, lots of Armenian guys invest a big part of the year working abroad, primarily in Russia. Due to circumstances such as absence of understanding and the vulnerability of migrants, those men get Sexually transmitted diseases or HIV, which they transfer to their other halves. Numerous women discover their condition after they conceive and get evaluated.
According to the National Center for Transmittable Illness (CJSC), there were 4,317 signed up cases of HIV infection in March 2021 of which 30.6%, or 1,292, were women. Heterosexual transmission is the major path of disease spread, and 93.7% of ladies coping with HIV got the infection from their husbands. Most of cases were signed up among ladies aged 20-29.
This illness is surrounded by silence and hostility. In Armenia, it is an extremely delicate subject to deal with, due to the fact that it is not restricted to HIV alone. It took me a long time to find a way to present the victims securely, without anyone being able to identify them.
By developing trusting relationships, while going through doubts and fears, the job aims to provide voice to these silent ladies and make visible the social oppression knotted in custom, cultural codes, patriarchy, and lack of option.
Yerevan, Armenia, 2020-2021