TY - JOUR
T1 - Friends, sisters, and wives
T2 - Social support and social risks in peer relationships among men who have sex with men (msm) in India
AU - Tomori, Cecilia
AU - Srikrishnan, Aylur K.
AU - Ridgeway, Kathleen
AU - Solomon, Sunil S.
AU - Mehta, Shruti H.
AU - Solomon, Suniti
AU - Celentano, David D.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 The Guilford Press.
PY - 2016/4
Y1 - 2016/4
N2 - Globally, men who have sex with men (MSM) are at high risk for HIV. Many HIV-prevention efforts rely on community outreach and mobilization to engage MSM. This study examines peer relationships and their potential role in HIV prevention through 31 focus group discussions (FGDS) and 121 in-depth interviews (IDIs) with 363 MSM across 15 sites in India. Results indicate that MSM receive social support in friendships, sex-worker collaborations, constructed kin relationships, and romantic partnerships. Access to these relationships, however, is uneven across MSM, and can carry risks of disclosure of same-sex behavior and exclusion based on HIV- positive status. Positive peer relationships can serve as the basis of community empowerment, education, and couple-based interventions for MSM, and peer counselors can also provide a buffer against the social risks of peer relationships and facilitate linkage to care and continued engagement in treatment. These insights can improve HIV interventions for MSM in India and elsewhere.
AB - Globally, men who have sex with men (MSM) are at high risk for HIV. Many HIV-prevention efforts rely on community outreach and mobilization to engage MSM. This study examines peer relationships and their potential role in HIV prevention through 31 focus group discussions (FGDS) and 121 in-depth interviews (IDIs) with 363 MSM across 15 sites in India. Results indicate that MSM receive social support in friendships, sex-worker collaborations, constructed kin relationships, and romantic partnerships. Access to these relationships, however, is uneven across MSM, and can carry risks of disclosure of same-sex behavior and exclusion based on HIV- positive status. Positive peer relationships can serve as the basis of community empowerment, education, and couple-based interventions for MSM, and peer counselors can also provide a buffer against the social risks of peer relationships and facilitate linkage to care and continued engagement in treatment. These insights can improve HIV interventions for MSM in India and elsewhere.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84962640353&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84962640353&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1521/aeap.2016.28.2.153
DO - 10.1521/aeap.2016.28.2.153
M3 - Article
C2 - 27459166
AN - SCOPUS:84962640353
SN - 0899-9546
VL - 28
SP - 153
EP - 164
JO - AIDS Education and Prevention
JF - AIDS Education and Prevention
IS - 2
ER -