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Hiv- Positive
Gays In Senegal Face Double Stigma
19 Feb 2006- Dakar-
Twenty-four-year old male sex worker Doudou (not his real name) was
forced to turn to Senegal’s leading gay NGO when his family members
threw him out for being a homosexual.
When he discovered he was HIV-positive
a year later, Doudou was faced with a double whammy: gay and
HIV-positive in a predominantly Muslim country where homosexuality is
illegal.
“A serious car accident in May 2003,
that claimed the life of my companion, was what started it all,” he
recalled. The accident caused multiple fractures to his legs, causing
him to use crutches for nearly one year.
Stuck and immobilized at home with his
family, he realised that they would never accept his sexual orientation.
“My half brothers and half sisters
kicked me out of the house while I was still struggling with crutches
... I could not bear their verbal daily abuse,” he said.
GAYS SIDELINED IN HIV/AIDS
PROGRAMMES
Using his meagre savings, Doudou
rented a room in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, and turned to an NGO
called ‘And Ligeey’ (Work Together in Wolof a local dialect) which
offers support services for men who have sex with men (MSM) and regular
information campaigns on HIV/AIDS.
It was while attending a workshop for
MSM that Doudou got tested for HIV. The workshop was part of a survey
trying to assess the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate among MSM in the country.
The study, undertaken between April
and August 2004, revealed that 21.5 percent of MSM in Senegal were HIV
positive. According to the 2005 National Survey on Demographic and
Health, 0.7 percent of the country's total population is living with
HIV/AIDS.
Senegal has one of Africa's lowest HIV
prevalence rates, thanks in part to efficient campaigning, testing and
prevention encouraged by the government, but the gay community has been
sidelined from AIDS programmes since homosexual sex is technically a
crime.
Doudou has not told his family about
his positive status. “With what my family made me go through only
during the period that my legs were broken, I can only imagine how much
worse it would be if bedridden with AIDS,” he commented.
Without an education, Doudou has never
managed to have a permanent job. Before his car accident, he relied on
his sexual partners for financial support.
“I can say I was addicted to
prostitution, I had no regular jobs but earned lots of money from my
partners,” he said.
His partner, who later got killed in
the car accident, was married to a woman. “He used to say that he
married her only to have children,” explained Doudou.
Because of the social stigma attached
to homosexuality, some members of the gay community live a double life
as married men with children. According to the 2004 study, more than 94
percent of men having sex with men in Senegal also have sexual relations
with women.
Doudou admitted never having practiced
safe sex before discovering his positive status.
“Now that I know I am HIV positive, I
protect myself by asking my partners to wear condoms because I cannot
[afford to] contract the virus twice,” he said.
Since August 2005, Doudou has been
receiving antiretrovirals (ARVs) from the Red Cross centre in Dakar free
of charge.
SEX WORK TO SURVIVE
Despite the free access to this
service, Doudou has been finding it difficult to get by, especially
after his accident and his family’s rejection.
After having spent all his savings, he
left his rented room and found temporary shelter with a friend in the
suburbs of Dakar. He now lives in Mbour, a seaside locality 80 km south
of the capital.
“Doudou told me that a friend offered
him a job in Mbour, but I found out later he was prostituting himself to
live,” noted a member of the ‘And Ligeey’ association.
According to Doudou, homosexual men
find it difficult to get jobs, because “when people realize we are MSM,
they will not employ us or make sure we are sacked from the job we
have.”
Two years after his accident, Doudou
continues to be plagued by his car-accident injuries, resulting in
costly medical follow ups, well beyond his means even with the help from
his ‘And Ligeey’ friends.
“A week ago, Doudou asked me for 100
CFA (US $2) to pay for the trip to get his ARV treatment. He has
nothing left, he even sold his cell phone,” commented one of the members
of ‘And Ligeey’, who asked not be named.
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