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Nepal SOCIAL LIFE |
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Nepal Information |
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HIV
awareness amongst MSM still low |
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KATHMANDU,
22 April 2007 (IRIN)
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| Devya Gurang, a 24-year old transgender person, outside the Blue Diamond
Society hospice in Kathmandu. |
As
dusk falls in Ratna Park, a popular cruising area for men who have sex
with men (MSM) in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, so too do inhibitions.
"I
can always find someone here," bragged Pradip, 23, while his friends prompt
him to tell more. He has been married for four years and has two children,
but his wife knows little of his evening activities, nor would she dare
ask. "She knows her place," he said. |
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The
day labourer admits to having as many as three extramarital sexual partners
a week - often without a condom - but knows little about HIV/AIDS, or the
risk of infecting himself, his wife and others. "I'm always on top - you
can't get infected that way," he asserted.
Such
ignorance means that what happens in the darkened corners of Ratna Park
may represent the next frontline in the Himalayan nation's battle against
HIV/AIDS.
Nepal
has recorded almost 9,000 cases of HIV since the first case was reported
in 1988, but UNAIDS puts the estimated number of HIV infections at closer
to 75,000, in a population of 27 million.
MSM
are considered one of the groups most at risk and in need of HIV/AIDS education,
but Narmada Acharya, acting country representative for UNAIDS in Nepal,
said the stigma associated with homosexuality was preventing people from
coming forward. "Many people have problems with their sexual identity and
are afraid to seek information," she commented.
With
MSM already a socially marginalised group and access to prevention services
low, education and services from within the MSM community itself were the
key to further prevention, Acharya said.
One
group working to address the problem is Nepal's Blue Diamond Society (BDS),
a community-based organisation that has the only national network representing
MSM and other sexual minorities.
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society's two drop-in centres and small army of outreach educators, who
distribute condoms at over 100 cruising sites in the capital, are already
having an impact.
"We
believe a large number of males are involved in male-to-male sexual behaviour,
but it's hard to reach everyone," said Sunil Pant, BDS's outspoken president.
Part
of the problem, according to UNAIDS, is the common misconception that male-to-male
sex happens only among men who identify themselves as 'gay'. In fact, most
MSM living outside the West do not identify themselves as such and are
often married with children. |
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Sex
with transgender persons |
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"Many
straight or straight-acting men who have sex with transgender persons [people
who do not identify with the gender they were born with] won't come into
any of our drop-in centres," Pant said, adding that the idea of being powerful
and masculine in Nepal did not include using a condom, and condoms were
also often difficult to find in rural areas.
Nepal
has a sizeable transgender population that has long been involved in commercial
sex work catering to MSM. In the "terrain", or low-lying areas of the country
bordering India, transgender people are traditionally mobile, often crossing
the border to India to sing and dance at weddings or other celebrations,
as well as engaging in commercial sex work.
"When
they travel they have many sexual partners and their mobility makes them
more vulnerable to contracting HIV," Pant said, adding that the stigma
attached to being a transgender person could hinder their access to health
services.
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MSM
fast fact |
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HIV
prevalence among Nepal's urban-based MSM is 4 percent compared to 0.3 percent
among the general adult population.
Low
awareness about HIV among MSM who engage in sex with transgender people
heightens their risk of exposure, and may also prevent those already living
with the virus from seeking treatment.
Fortunately,
awareness is already on the rise in a number of towns across the country
where BDS or one of its partners has a presence. Since early 2006, BDS
has run a project that assists local groups outside the capital in building
up their institutional capacity, services and advocacy work.
A
BDS partner in the southern border city of Nepalganj, 'Paschimtara' (Western
Star), a community-based organisation for MSM and transgender persons,
is already distributing around 200 condoms a day at more than 20 locations
that MSM frequent in and around the city.
"People
need more knowledge about HIV," said Ram Avtar Tharu, one of six outreach
educators at the Paschimtara drop-in centre. "Many people don't even know
how to use a condom."
He
estimates that around 60 percent of the people he speaks to know something
about HIV, but says there is a need for more prevention funding to educate
this high-risk, often-uninformed group.
Source: IRIN 2007
Copyright
Ⓒ UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2007
[
This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
Integrated
Regional Information Networks (IRIN), part of the UN Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). |
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