Living on the margins
The ways in which people forge a sense of belonging and community despite being stigmatised by their sexual and drug practices will be discussed at a major conference at UNSW.
Published on the 30 Mar 2016 by UNSW Media
The gay community has responded with its own strategies to reduce the risk of acquiring HIV
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For every innovation in testing, treatment or prevention technology, gay men have responded with their own strategies to reduce the risk of acquiring HIV, a conference on HIV research will hear this week.
But those strategies are often at odds with the intended uses of the technology and treatment, says UNSW Associate Professor Martin Holt.
In a session at the 14th Social Research Conference on HIV, Viral Hepatitis and related diseases, Associate Professor Holt, who works at UNSW’s Centre for Social Research in Health (CSRH), will discuss the changing responses to HIV in the gay community.
“For every helpful or protective innovation in practice we can see the parallel emergence and continuation of practices that appear to offset preventive benefits,” he says.
“Examples include assuming or guessing a partner’s HIV status, and various forms of stigma, particularly against HIV-positive men.
“Why would we expect it to be different now? And are we doing enough to assess the impact of biomedical prevention, particularly the introduction of pre-exposure prophylaxis, on shifting norms and practices?” asks Associate Professor Holt.
Hosted by CSRH, the conference is integral to Australia's efforts to understand the social and behavioural dynamics of blood-borne viral epidemics and sexually transmissible infections.
It will examine how people in affected groups forge a sense of belonging in their own communities and in the broader society. Conference speakers will also look at how some groups in society are excluded or accepted by a range of discourses and practices within medicine, the media, research, criminal law and politics.
Sessions include a review of the views and experiences of people with complex drug and alcohol problems; an examination of effective community-based models for supporting young people with HIV; and a discussion of how to measure health and social outcomes for people being treated for using alcohol and other drugs.
The full program for the conference can be found here
What: 14th Social Research Conference on HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Related Diseases
When: 31 March & 1 April
Where: Colombo House Theatres at UNSW Kensington campus, Sydney