Senegal Health | Gay - Lesbian
Senegal's gays fight for AIDS campaign fundsMisanet / IRIN, 12 January - Senegal's fledgling gay movement is battling for recognition in the struggle against HIV/AIDS and hopes to win its first ever government grant to assist homosexuals living with the disease. A decision is set to be made in March.
The problem is that homosexuality is illegal in devoutly Muslim Senegal, and the MSM movement - the acronym stands for "Men who have sex with men" - is asking for funds from the government-run National Council to Fight AIDS (CNLS).
The five-year-old MSM movement claims to have 400 members out of Senegal's population of 10 million. The organisation mostly works underground due to the banning of homosexuality in Senegal.
Leaders of the group told the UN media 'IRIN' they had applied to the internationally funded CNLS for a CFA francs 36 million (US$ 73,000) grant to finance a project to tackle AIDS in Senegal's gay community and assist those of its members who are already HIV positive.
While Senegal has one of Africa's lowest HIV prevalence rates, thanks in part to efficient campaigning, testing and prevention encouraged by the government, the gay community has been sidelined from AIDS programmes since homosexual sex is technically a crime.
- We want to be able to train people and go to the homes of people living with AIDS who are suffering and who often are not informed about treatment, said a leader of the MSM movement, who asked not to be identified. "The situation is extremely serious within the community."
The source said gays in Senegal who have come out in public have been threatened and assaulted. They were particularly at risk from AIDS, since many were ignorant about how the virus is transmitted, he added.
Because of the social stigma attached to homosexuality, some members of the gay community live a double life as married men with children. While homosexuality formally is illegal in Senegal, however no anti-gay campaigns by the government or police exist in the country and the ban is not effectively enforced.
Senegal has received pledges of CFA francs 36.5 billion (US$ 74 million) to fight HIV-AIDS in 2005 and 2006 from the World Bank, the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and other international donors.
A CNLS official told 'IRIN' that the project funding request from the MSM movement had been received and would be considered in March, along with a batch of other new community projects. "There are [the lives of] thousands of MSMs at stake," the official however noted.
By UN media IRIN © afrol News / IRIN - Create an e-mail alert for Senegal news - Create an e-mail alert for Health news - Create an e-mail alert for Gay - Lesbian news
On the Afrol News front page now
Central African Republic falling apart
afrol News - One month after the rebel movement Séléka took over power in the Central African Republic, unrest is spreading in the country. The new leader lacks control of his forces, which continue looting and abusing civilians.
|
Kenyatta secures tight victory in Kenya
afrol News - The official election results in Kenya have finally been announced, and Uhuru Kenyatta managed to win the first poll round outright with a narrow 50.7 percent. But the main opponent, PM Raila Odinga, is filing a vote rigging complaint to the courts.
|
Cape Verde Cape Verde to produce dragon fruit
afrol News - Cape Verde authorities have invested large sums to diversify the arid country's agricultural sector. Now, the dragon fruit, originating in tropical America, is being introduced for the first commercial production in Africa.
|
|