Bangkok - As diamonds go it, could be considered a pretty rough cut telling the stories of 10 HIV-positive women and their efforts to rise above the social stigma and lead productive lives.

But to the women involved in "Diamonds: Stories of Women from the Asia Pacific Network of People Living with HIV," it's time to turn the page and help to educate society about living HIV-positive.

"Diamonds" is scheduled for release Monday afternoon at the International Congress on Aids in Asia and the Pacific that started Sunday in Bali and will run through August 13.

"With this book we are really hoping we can add a personal touch about who we are: that we are the same, like any other women," Frika Chia Iskandar said.

Frika Chia, who has known she is HIV-positive for nearly 10 years, said society at large still holds many misconceptions toward HIV-positive, particularly women, but hopefully that is changing as more women go public and tell their stories.

"Diamonds" is a big part of that. We want to show that we are normal. To open people's hearts," she told the German Press Agency dpa in an interview in Bangkok before the Bali conference.

"There is a lot of stigma to being HIV-positive. You are always that lady, or that woman," she said.

Publicly acknowledging she was HIV-positive in 2005 was "very liberating. This is who I am and I don't want to keep it from anyone," she said, calling it a "burden" to keep secret.

Access to treatment has improved the past five years, but the perception of HIV in the wider community has not, she said.

Frika Chia is the coordinator of Women of Asia Pacific Network of People living with HIV.

"Diamonds" is the result of HIV-positive women communicating through the network and taking it upon themselves to lead and educate the wider community through their stories.

"When I talked about the experience I had gone through with my children, I could see that all the mothers were crying. It really touched them. I thought, my story is powerful. I can use it to change people's attitudes," said one of the women featured in the book, Maura from Papua New Guinea

Their search to fund the book lead them to the United Nations Development Fund for Women, which promotes gender equality, and is publishing it.

Dr Jean D'Cunha, UNIFEM regional director in Bangkok, said the book addresses an inherent inequality in dealing with AIDS.

"Much of the current international effort to combat HIV/AIDS assumes that men and women are equal and are equally empowered to protect themselves," she told dpa.

She called that a lack of "gender perspective" and is one reasons the number of women being HIV positive is growing faster than the number of men.

"HIV/AIDS is increasingly assuming a woman's face," she said.

D'Cunha cited the AIDS Commission Report for Asia, 2008, as stating nearly 50 million women in the region are at risk of contracting HIV, many "from male spouses or partners who engage with paid multiple sex partners."

She said relationships must be transformed or the pandemic, especially the "feminine face," will continue unabated.

Frika Chia said they wanted to get the book to a wide audience, such as bookstores, but the funding is from UNIFEM and UN books are not for sale commercially.

She said they hope to find a way to get it more widely distributed, but it will be available through UNIFEM.

UNIFEM said they will also post it on the web so people can read it there.(dpa)