Dutch launch massive, world-first HIV/Aids program aimed at world's marginalised

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Source: GNP+

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands has reserved € 35 million so that gay men, people who use drugs and sex workers in 16 countries can get easier access to information, condoms, antiretroviral treatment and care.

Never before has a country launched such a large HIV program aimed at these vulnerable groups. It could mean a huge turnaround in reducing the number of HIV infections in the 16 countries.

The program will start in September 2011 and be implemented by seven Netherlands based organizations  including GNP+. As well as the grant from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the program has been made possible by € 11.7 million from other sources.

The 4.5-year program has been judged the best by the ministry.

Earlier this year there was a call for proposals for development cooperation projects aimed at vulnerable groups. The Dutch government’s decision to reserve funds for this project is highly important. It means a continuation of the ‘Dutch approach’ within international AIDS relief where access to prevention and care in combination with the decriminalization of drug use, homosexuality and sex work is central. This is the only way gay men, people who use drugs and prostitutes can get the care they need.

A good example of this care is the integrated needle exchange program for injecting drug users. Many HIV infections are prevented as a result. The great success of the Dutch approach is recognized internationally.

Vulnerable groups are 10 to 20 times more likely to become infected with HIV than the general population. Only 8% has access to prevention, care, HIV treatment and support.

Many countries have legislation that makes access to care difficult or impossible. Examples include laws that make homosexuality a criminal offence or ones that are used to prosecute sex workers.

Offering HIV/AIDS care developed for and by these vulnerable groups must therefore go hand in hand with political pressure to change such legislation. This is precisely the aim of this program. It is also aimed at partners of gay men, drug users and sex workers. Because of the taboo related to homosexuality, in many countries men also have a relationship with a woman or are married.

The program will be run in 16 countries: Georgia, Kirghizstan, Tadzhikistan, Ukraine, Botswana, Uganda, Kenya, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Nepal, Pakistan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Brazil, Costa Rica and Ecuador.

The program builds on work carried out in recent years. This work can now be continued and expanded. This new program will involve a lot more collaboration in order to be as effective and efficient as possible.

Gaps in existing projects will also be tackled. For example, most prevention programs along ‘truck routes’ in Africa are aimed at drivers. Until now, they have not benefited sex workers. This has meant that a great many infections still take place along these routes.

The Dutch program will be carried out by seven organizations: Aids Fonds/STI AIDS Netherlands, Aids Foundation East-West, COC, Global Network of People living with HIV, Health Connections International, Mainline and Schorer.

Together with 102 partner organizations in the 16 countries listed, they will ensure that in the coming years 400,000 gay and bisexual men, transsexuals, people who use drugs and sex workers get access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and other support.

New Report Shows Major AIDS Funders Fail to Track Investments for Gay Men and Transgender People

Source: MSMGF

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Could Vietnam legalise same-sex marriage?

The wedding party of Pin Okio and Nel Fi in HCM City on June 4, 2011

Source: VietNamNet Bridge

By Hoang Huong

Homosexuality has been mentioned in Vietnam for a decade. Though it is not officially recognized, “the third world” has become a part of the Vietnamese society. However, it would be a long way for homosexual marriage to be recognized by the law.

The wedding ceremony of Minh Quang and Thuy Linh in Hanoi in December 2010.

In late 2010, a video clip of a wedding ceremony of two women in Hanoi was posted on the internet. The video immediately caused a stir in the online community and the public. This is the first homosexual couple who organized the first public wedding party in Vietnam. In early June 2010, a gay couple in HCM City organized their wedding publicly.

The two homosexual weddings highly attracted the public. Some said that these are good signs for an opener society. Some others argued that this is ebullience and imitation of some young people.

VietNamNet discusses this issue with experts.

Le Quang Binh, Director of the Institute for Social, Economic and Environmental Research:

Homosexual love and marriage are still “sensitive” in Vietnam, with different opinions. This issue has especially captured the public’s attention after the weddings of two homosexual couples.

There are two noteworthy viewpoints: National Assembly deputy, Prof. Nguyen Minh Thuyet said that Vietnam should have the law on homosexual marriage soon, while Doctor of Sociology Trinh Hoa Binh, who said that homosexuality is not recognized in Vietnam yet and it is necessary to “analyze to help them understand that they have mistaken, aped of homosexuality… and then gradually getting them back to normal”.

The two above viewpoints are spoken out by two prestigious people in society and they are posted on the media so they certainly make influence to the society. I think we need to make clear analysis about this.

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Report: In Vietnam, abuse traumatises the gay community

Source: Thanh Nien

A 20-year-old homosexual in Hanoi told researchers that discrimination from his classmates and parents had driven him to attempt suicide three times since the age of 14.

“The only thing I could think of doing was to die,” he said.

He made his first attempt in the 8th grade, after his classmates mocked him and his parents beat him.

The young man told researchers that he ingested rat poison but recovered from the effects the following morning.

“I did not know anyone like me and was so lonely and hurt because of what my family and classmates did to me,” he said.

Next time, he tried sleeping pills, he said — only to vomit them all up.

In his third and final attempt to take his own life, the young man went to a quiet spot near the Nga Tu So underground tunnel. He took sleeping pills again and hoped to die alone.

But someone discovered him and took him to the police who later transferred him to hospital assuming he was a drug addict who had overdosed.

Cases like his are not rare in Vietnam.

17 May, experts called for renewed action against sexual discrimination at a forum in Hanoi. The event coincided with the International Day Against Homophobia and Trans-phobia.

“A significant proportion of homosexuals suffer violence in their family because of limited awareness and social prejudices,” said Huynh Minh Thao, communication and service manager of ICS – a volunteer group working to foster a positive image of homosexuality in Vietnam.

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Governments still abusing transgender people’s rights

Source: AIDS Accountability International


By Phillipa Tucker, Senior Researcher

Governments worldwide continue to neglect the needs of transgender people with regards to HIV and AIDS. The early results of the AIDS Accountability International Survey on Transgender Issues indicate that almost no countries collect or analyse health data on transgender people thus making them more vulnerable.

Dr. Per Strand, Research Director at AIDS Accountability International’s Cape Town office says:

“This is not an unexpected finding, but if governments don’t correctly monitor and evaluate their epidemics they will make mistakes in their policy, implementation and impact and that is very much what we are seeing is happening for transgender people.”

Senior Researcher Phillipa Tucker explains:

“The lack of focus on the issues being faced by transgender people leaves them vulnerable, not only to HIV infection, but also to other issues such as health risks in operative surgery, side effects and interaction of drugs, relationship vulnerability, income generation, stigma and discrimination and many other aspects that place them at greater risk in the face of HIV.”

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In Vietnam, the rape of a transsexual woman stirs legal debate

Source: Thanh News.com

The rape of a transgender woman in the north-central province of Quang Binh has sparked a serious debate among legal professionals after judicial authorities declined to prosecute the three perpetrators.

The German Press Agency dpa quoted officials in the province as saying the victim had not reclassified her legal gender from male to female on Wednesday, August 25. Because Vietnamese law only applies to the rape of women by men, the case could not be prosecuted, they said.

“The laws don’t regulate how to deal with this case, so even if the group raped her ten times, we would not be able to sentence them,” Nguyen Van Thin, chief judge of the provincial People’s Court, told dpa.

According to Ho Chi Minh City Law newspaper, the unidentified woman was gang-raped by the three men on April 4. She reported the crime to local police the following day. After the men were arrested, they confessed to the crime in custody.

The province ran into problems when the authorities found that all of the victim’s identification documents indicated her gender as male.

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Vietnam: gays visible in film - but stereotyped

Source: Thanhnien News

Homosexual movie characters are often stereotyped and silly, but a few new films are undertaking complex character studies to explore the gay and lesbian world

Most gay characters in Vietnamese films are predictable: they’re overly emotional, flamboyant and they all have the gift of gab.

Some of the most popular movies in recent years – Gai nhay (Bar girls), Lo Lem he pho (Pavement Cinderella), Hon Truong Ba – da hang thit (Truong Ba’s soul in the butcher’s body) – have made a habit of making fun of gay people, representing them as little more than silly weirdoes with a little flair.

Homosexuals are often the villains in films and many are prostitutes, cunning fraudsters or other criminals. They often lurk in the shadows, hanging out at the seediest establishments in the worst part of town. Most are in deep agony over what is described as their “sexual deviation” and they rarely have happy endings: they mostly end up dead or in jail when the film finishes.

Director Le Hoang, who made Trai nhay (Bar men), a film that tells the story of a gay man stuck in a love triangle between a heterosexual couple, even described homosexuality as a “disease.”

“I can’t approve of homosexual love anymore than I can advocate a kind of disease,” said Hoang in an interview with local newswire VietNamNet. Many critics said his film was shallow and cold and not a genuine exploration of what it’s like to be gay in modern society.

Some said it was slapstick comedy without the comedy.

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