Men who have sex with men

Men who have sex with men
In a few societies sex between men is
widely accepted; in some it is tolerated;
and in many it is the subject of strong
disapproval, legal sanctions and social
taboos. Official indifference or hostility
means that there are few prevention and
care programmes for men who have
sex with men in developing countries. It
also means that little research has been
undertaken to discover HIV prevalence
rates, how many men are at risk and how
best to provide them with the information
they need to protect themselves and
their sexual partners.
Sex between men, particularly anal
intercourse without a condom, is one
way in which HIV and other sexually
transmitted infections are transmitted.
Although HIV prevalence rates among
men who have sex with men are high in
some countries; due to the relative
invisibility of male to male sex, sex
between men may be an unrecognized
factor in national and regional epidemics.
Where HIV prevalence is low, focusing
prevention efforts on people with high
risk behaviours such as men who have
sex with men not only protects those
individuals but can contain the epidemic
at a fraction of the cost associated with
a generalized epidemic. Doing this
effectively requires support for both risk
and vulnerability reduction interventions.
Risk reduction activities might include
distributing condoms and lubricant
among men who have sex with men or
providing them with specifically targeted
education aimed at promoting safer sex.
Supporting gay and other men who have
sex with men to come together and to
organize themselves for social
networking, solidarity building and policy
advocacy can play an important part in
reducing their vulnerability.
Sex workers
Sex workers are key to the dynamics
of most HIV epidemics; the potential for
a large number of sexual partners
increases the likelihood of exposure to
HIV for sex workers and/or the
possibility of exposing others to HIV.
HIV prevention in the context of sex work
rests on a range of factors including thelegal and policy environments in which
sex work occurs; the legal, social and
economic status of sex workers; and
the capacity of sex workers to organize
themselves and to identify and
implement effective responses to the
challenges they face, including HIV.Although many countries criminalize sex
work and thereby subject the act of
buying or selling sex for money to
criminal sanction; sex workers have the
same human rights as everyone else,
particularly rights to education,
information, the highest attainable
standard of health, and freedom from
discrimination and violence, including
sexual violence.
Since the beginning of the AIDS
epidemic sex workers have organized
around health and human rights issues,
and as a result some sex worker
organizations have played a crucial part
in reducing HIV risk and vulnerability.