The indeterminate macro-social: new traps for old players in HIV / AIDS social research
Dowsett, G.
Culture Health and Sexuality 1(1): 95-102
1999
ISSN/ISBN: 1369-1058 PMID: 12295117 DOI: 10.1080/136910599301184Document Number: 282852
The author discusses the first-ever study of male-to-male HIV-related sexual behavior in Fiji, Samoa, and Vanuatu, and the importance of sexual culture to HIV/AIDS education and research. The survey, based loosely upon Australian instruments, is attempting to document the HIV/AIDS knowledge, attitudes, social behaviors, and sex practices of homosexually active men to better target educational interventions for that population in the South Pacific. The research is being conducted by the AIDS Task Force of Fiji, a small nongovernmental organization, with help from the Australian government and UNAIDS. The researcher is informed by the knowledge of local gay, male educators. However, these educators understand that most men who have sex with men in the South Pacific do not self-identify as gay, but rather as men without any specific sexual identity who have sex with both men and women as they see fit. The sexual cultures of Papua New Guinea, India, Thailand, Australia, and Africa are considered.