The social and sexual lives of Black sexual minority men 30 years of age and older in South Africa
Abstract Background Black sexual minority men (SMM) ages 30 and older are under-represented in HIV studies in sub-Saharan Africa, despite being at increased risk of HIV infection and contributing to potential onward HIV transmission. To better understand the social and sexual lives of older Black So...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2022-10-01
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| Series: | BMC Public Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-14303-5 |
| _version_ | 1811182346716577792 |
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| author | Amy Crandall Happy Phaleng Jagadīśa-devaśrī Dacus Oshin Bista Pierre Brouard Dawie Nel Vasu Reddy Theo Sandfort Justin Knox |
| author_facet | Amy Crandall Happy Phaleng Jagadīśa-devaśrī Dacus Oshin Bista Pierre Brouard Dawie Nel Vasu Reddy Theo Sandfort Justin Knox |
| author_sort | Amy Crandall |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Black sexual minority men (SMM) ages 30 and older are under-represented in HIV studies in sub-Saharan Africa, despite being at increased risk of HIV infection and contributing to potential onward HIV transmission. To better understand the social and sexual lives of older Black South African SMM, we conducted in-depth interviews with SMM who were > 30 years old. Methods From March–September 2016, we recruited a convenience sample of 37 SMM ages 30 and older by partnering with an LGBTQ+ organization in Tshwane, Pretoria. Men were interviewed about various aspects of their lives, including their sexual orientation, social connectedness, experiences with stigma and perspectives on participating in research. Results Participants described their experiences with their sexual identities, cultural and social implications of disclosure, and their perspective on South Africa’s political perspectives on the LGBTQ+ community. Men described how these experiences influence their trust in research and comfort participating in studies. Conclusions Inferences drawn from these findings provide direction on how to improve middle-aged SMM’s representation in research, such as recruiting a higher proportion of older and middle-aged SMM to serve as seed participants and building stronger community partnerships to disseminate study findings to settings where data collection is conducted. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T09:29:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-29856cc384cf445494b158b421183dc5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-2458 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T09:29:52Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-29856cc384cf445494b158b421183dc52022-12-22T04:31:54ZengBMCBMC Public Health1471-24582022-10-0122111310.1186/s12889-022-14303-5The social and sexual lives of Black sexual minority men 30 years of age and older in South AfricaAmy Crandall0Happy Phaleng1Jagadīśa-devaśrī Dacus2Oshin Bista3Pierre Brouard4Dawie Nel5Vasu Reddy6Theo Sandfort7Justin Knox8Mailman School of Public Health, Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia UniversityOUT LGBT Well-BeingInstitute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing at Northwestern UniversityNew York State Psychiatric Institute, HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral StudiesDepartment of Sociology, Faculty of Humanities, University of PretoriaOUT LGBT Well-BeingDepartment of Sociology, Faculty of Humanities, University of PretoriaMailman School of Public Health, Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia UniversityMailman School of Public Health, Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia UniversityAbstract Background Black sexual minority men (SMM) ages 30 and older are under-represented in HIV studies in sub-Saharan Africa, despite being at increased risk of HIV infection and contributing to potential onward HIV transmission. To better understand the social and sexual lives of older Black South African SMM, we conducted in-depth interviews with SMM who were > 30 years old. Methods From March–September 2016, we recruited a convenience sample of 37 SMM ages 30 and older by partnering with an LGBTQ+ organization in Tshwane, Pretoria. Men were interviewed about various aspects of their lives, including their sexual orientation, social connectedness, experiences with stigma and perspectives on participating in research. Results Participants described their experiences with their sexual identities, cultural and social implications of disclosure, and their perspective on South Africa’s political perspectives on the LGBTQ+ community. Men described how these experiences influence their trust in research and comfort participating in studies. Conclusions Inferences drawn from these findings provide direction on how to improve middle-aged SMM’s representation in research, such as recruiting a higher proportion of older and middle-aged SMM to serve as seed participants and building stronger community partnerships to disseminate study findings to settings where data collection is conducted.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-14303-5Sexual minority menSouth AfricaStigmaSexual orientationAging |
| spellingShingle | Amy Crandall Happy Phaleng Jagadīśa-devaśrī Dacus Oshin Bista Pierre Brouard Dawie Nel Vasu Reddy Theo Sandfort Justin Knox The social and sexual lives of Black sexual minority men 30 years of age and older in South Africa BMC Public Health Sexual minority men South Africa Stigma Sexual orientation Aging |
| title | The social and sexual lives of Black sexual minority men 30 years of age and older in South Africa |
| title_full | The social and sexual lives of Black sexual minority men 30 years of age and older in South Africa |
| title_fullStr | The social and sexual lives of Black sexual minority men 30 years of age and older in South Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | The social and sexual lives of Black sexual minority men 30 years of age and older in South Africa |
| title_short | The social and sexual lives of Black sexual minority men 30 years of age and older in South Africa |
| title_sort | social and sexual lives of black sexual minority men 30 years of age and older in south africa |
| topic | Sexual minority men South Africa Stigma Sexual orientation Aging |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-14303-5 |
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