Abstract: Masculinity and HIV-AIDS prevention in West Africa: a training model

Abstract

The links between masculine identity and the HIV-AIDS epidemic are increasingly important. Whether gender identity articulates through multiple sexual relations, men’s reluctance to go to care centers or men’s dominance in sexual relations, the links between risk factors oblige organizations that work in the fight against HIV-AIDS to plan interventions specifically addressed to men. Moreover, in order for these interventions to be pertinent, they must make an impact that does not jeopardize the model of masculinity, but changes both its social inheritance and typical masculine behavior. Integral to this complex intervention process, which is gender sensitive and complementary to classic public health interventions, the article describes the importance of dealing with masculinity for the success in combating HIV-AIDS in societies where the epidemic is linked to socio-cultural realities. In this respect, the article presents three characteristics of masculinity that could be problematic in the HIV-AIDS epidemic: masculine domination, female representation led by men, and male violence toward women. Based on the work done in West Africa as part of a project to prevent HIV-AIDS, the article presents the contents of a local training curriculum, where this stage was described as essential in planning interventions with and on men. The training not only provides participants with the means to understand the links between masculinity and AIDS, but it also allows contextualizing the problem, defining priorities for action and developing interventions. (Promot Educ 2008; 15(2): 50-55) Abstract Vol 15(2), p. 34 DOI: 10.1177/1025382308090346