On average, Boinu earns about Rs 3,000-5,000 a day. Later at night, she and her five friends scout for safe street corners to sleep. The only thing that Boinu has going for her is that she does not have HIV.
When I met Boinu in Nirvana Foundation’s day-care centre–where she goes to rest and recuperate–she was nursing a mild fever and headache. She had not slept well in days. Although she could afford to rent a room, landlords were suspicious of a lone woman.
Harassment by locals and law enforcement were not uncommon. “Men touch us inappropriately,” said Boinu.
Three of five women drug users I spoke to in Imphal and Churachandpur had experienced mental or physical abuse when they were married. The other two had begun injecting drugs as teenagers in the 1980s and remained single. One was a government teacher, the other a graduate who never got a formal job.
