Sexual Minorities, Violence and AIDS in Africa

摘要

In most low-income countries the occurrence of sex between men and between women has usually been ignored or denied by public opinion, governments, and the international community. As shown in this paper, this has led to systematic violations of the human rights of sexual minorities, a high level of violence against them, and the neglect of the spread of HIV/AIDS among men who have sex with men (MSM) and women who have sex with women (WSW). This paper explores the double epidemic of violence and AIDS faced by MSM and WSW in low-income countries, with special reference to Africa and offers recommendations on how to address these issues within a human rights and poverty reduction framework. In low-income countries in general, and in Africa particularly, few people who have sexual relationships with members of the same gender identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transsexual (LGBT). Within this group, two further categories can be distinguished: those who socialize and engage in sexual relationships with GLBT-identified persons, and those who do not. The latter group, which the paper will refer to as "special groups", includes students in boarding schools, migrant workers, men in worker camps (e.g. miners), men enrolled in military service, street boys, and the inmates of correctional institutions. The MSM and WSW population in low-income countries is therefore highly heterogeneous.