Data showed that HIV-prevention services in the Asia-Pacific region reach only 9 to 20 percent of men who have sex with men, meaning that countries are falling short of their universal access targets. The report underscored that the eight countries with anti-discrimination laws (including Fiji, Philippines, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand) had greater coverage of prevention services.
The U.N. report also found widespread police abuse of homosexuals and transgender people in Asian countries, including rape, blackmail, beatings and harassment in public cruising areas.
HIV-prevention workers reported that because of a lack of private spaces to have sex, male couples resort to public places, but the fear of being caught pushes them to have rushed and unsafe sex. State harassment also resulted in the men's reluctance to carry condoms for fear of being arrested for sex work.
The U.N. report also highlighted that conservative factions of Christianity and Islam continue to pose objections to same-sex sexual relations. Several religious organizations continue to back repressive laws, particularly in conservative Muslim communities and some Christian communities in Pacific island countries.
"Successful AIDS responses do not punish people; they protect them. ... We must ensure that AIDS responses are based on evidence, not ideology, and reach those most in need and most affected," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said last year on World AIDS Day.
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