HIV Prevention among Township Men Who Have Sex with Men in South Africa

This project has two aims:

1. To describe collective and individual belief systems of low-income township men who have sex with men (MSM) related to their sexuality, sexual health, choice of sexual partners, use of drugs and alcohol, use of condoms, utilization of health services, HIV voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) and disclosure of HIV status, in order to describe prevailing cultural norms around these subjects’ behaviors
2. To assess the prevalence of HIV risk factors and HIV infection among MSM from Soweto township.

This study is the first of its kind in South Africa. Through in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and structured observations of MSM social venues, we have been able to describe the gender identities and sexualities that are prevalent in township MSM communities. We will estimate the prevalence of risk behaviors and HIV infection in Soweto using respondent-driven sampling methodology. This will be the first HIV prevalence data for an MSM community in South Africa.