Madagascar meeting prompts decision-makers to act against discrimination

27 May 2008

At the end of 2007, a meeting organised by Alliance Madagascar on men who have sex with men prompted key local decision-makers to commit to act against discrimination. The roundtable meeting in Majunga highlighted how discrimination makes HIV prevention and support activities in the region difficult – with men who have sex with men describing how the discrimination they faced forced them to hide from society, even when they were ill.

Men who have sex with men participating in the meeting explained that the biggest problem they face is discrimination – whether from local state-run services and health centres or from family members. They described how local leaders and police do not take their reports of violence and crime seriously, in many cases telling the men that their sexuality is the problem.

At the meeting, the technical coordinator of Boeny region (of which Majunga forms a part) insisted on the need to implement an anti-discrimination plan in the region. He asked for time in 2008 to consider how to combat discrimination against people living with HIV, sex workers, and men who have sex with men. He also proposed that income-generating activities be set up for men who have sex with men, to offer them other ways of making money than sex work.

Journalists at the meeting said that they felt that much of the discrimination derives from people thinking that being gay is some sort of illness. They agreed to work to counter this attitude by providing more information to the public about men who have sex with men.

Local authority representatives also promised to improve the current situation by applying the recent training they’d had on rights and the law to men who have sex with men. The health centres and others involved also agreed to provide their support and care to men in need.

Meeting participants included:

  • members of EZAKA Boeny (an association for men who have sex with men which was created with the Alliance’s support in April 2007)
  • the technical coordinator of Boeny region
  • the head of Majunga’s voluntary and anonymous HIV testing centre
  • local police representatives
  • members of the Majunga Media Platform
  • district leaders
  • people working on HIV in the region.