The Needs and Rights of Male Sex Workers

This briefing paper was developed in line with the Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP) priority to highlight the needs and rights of male sex workers (MSW) and presents an overview of some of the main issues faced by MSW globally; it also highlights some of the advocacy and activism efforts by MSW communities that have challenged these issues. The paper is intended for those policymakers and those who design and implement programmes and work directly with MSW with the aim of increasing awareness and understanding of the multiple realities and needs of this community. This paper is also intended as an advocacy tool for NSWP member groups to utilise in their attempts to raise awareness across the world about the needs of MSW and to advocate for their rights from the grassroots community level to global forums for change.

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MSM in Sub-Saharan Africa: Health, Access and HIV

Within the context of an uncontrolled epidemic among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Sub-Saharan Africa and new attempts to scale-up MSM-targeted programming, this policy brief aims to address some of these gaps by examining current access to basic HIV prevention and treatment services among MSM in Sub-Saharan Africa. These findings combine the quantitative and qualitative data from the 2012 Global Men’s Health and Rights (GMHR) study, and interviews with LGBT-led CBOs across six countries. The brief concludes with recommendations for action to support the successful scale-up of MSM-targeted HIV programs in the region.

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Promoting the Health of Men Who Have Sex with Men Worldwide: a Training Curriculum for Providers

The MSMGF and Johns Hopkins University in 2014 launched a new international training curriculum designed to give healthcare providers the cultural competency and clinical skills necessary to meet the health needs of gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM). Following the announcement of the World Health Organization’s new Consolidated Guidelines for Key Populations, the curriculum is also intended to serve as a critical vehicle to ensure the reach of WHO’s efforts at the country level.

Consisting of nine modules and covering a wide range of clinically relevant topics, the curriculum’s content was shaped and guided by a group of 15 technical experts, scientists, physicians, psychologists, program implementers and community members from around the world. The introductory modules are designed to help providers gain a broad understanding of the contexts in which MSM navigate their healthcare needs. Subsequent modules offer specific provider-led strategies for increasing access to and quality of services, such as creating an enabling clinical environment, taking an appropriate sexual history, and managing HIV and other STIs among MSM effectively.

Media:

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Technical Guidance on Combination HIV Prevention

This guidance document published in 2011 by PEPFAR is a response to the urgent need to strengthen and expand HIV prevention for MSM and their partners and to improve MSM’s ability to access HIV care and treatment. It furthers PEPFAR’s renewed emphasis on matching interventions and investments with epidemiological trends and needs in order to improve impact. This guidance also builds upon and strengthens international efforts to encourage comprehensive HIV prevention programs for MSM in low- and middle-income countries.

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Prévention et traitement du VIH et des autres infections sexuellement transmissibles chez les travailleuses du sexe dans les pays à revenu faible ou intermédiaire

Le présent document contient des recommandations techniques sur les interventions qui permettent de prévenir et de traiter efficacement le VIH et les autres IST chez les travailleuses du sexe et leurs clients. Ces recommandations s’adressent aux responsables nationaux de la santé publique et aux administrateurs des programmes de lutte contre le VIH/sida et les IST, aux organisations non gouvernementales, y compris les organisations communautaires et appartenant à la société civile, ainsi qu’aux agents de santé. Les Régions et les pays sont encouragés à les adapter pour assurer des services acceptables pour les travailleuses du sexe en tenant compte du contexte épidémiologique et social. Elles pourront aussi intéresser les organismes de financement internationaux, les médias scientifiques, les responsables des politiques de santé et les personnes qui militent en faveur de la santé.

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Prévention et traitement de l’infection à vih et des autres infections sexuellement transmissibles chez les hommes ayant des rapports sexuels avec d’autres hommes et chez les personnes transgenres

Cette directive fournira des recommandations pour les partenaires régionaux et nationaux sur appropriée interventions visant à répondre aux besoins des HSH et transgenres. Il fournit également un occasion de souligner et de mettre l’accent sur la corrélation entre la prévention et de traitement en la réponse à l’épidémie de VIH chez les HSH et les personnes transgenres, en particulier à la lumière de plus en plus évident sur le bénéfice préventif de la thérapie antirétrovirale (ART ). Ceci peut conduire à une réduction substantielle de la transmission au niveau de la population.

Year of publication:

2011

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The Economic Cost of Homophobia and the Exclusion of LGBT People: A Case Study of India

What does exclusion cost? This documents illustrates preliminary findings of a case study that developed and tested an economic model to measure the cost of excluding sexual minorities, especially the LGBT community. The model examines workplace discrimination, health disparities in HIV, suicide, and depression, and concludes that they could cost societies billions of dollars.

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Access to HIV Prevention and Treatment for Men Who Have Sex with Men

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation commissioned the Global Forum on MSM & HIV (MSMGF) to identify barriers and facilitators of PrEP uptake among MSM globally. The MSMGF took this as an opportunity to strengthen understanding of the structural-, community-, and individual-level factors that influence access to services for MSM more broadly, placing challenges to access within the context of lived experiences and concerns of MSM. Toward this goal, the MSMGF developed a global multilingual online survey to examine barriers and facilitators to service access for MSM around the world.

This report first describes the methods and results of the online survey, followed by the methods and results of the focus group discussions. These sections are followed by a discussion section that explores the barriers and facilitators revealed by quantitative data in the survey, as well as the broader context of these barriers and facilitators as revealed in the focus group discussions. The report ends with a look forward at future directions.

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