title: Not at all so hard-to-reach: same-sex attracted men in Dar es Salaam.
abstract: Based on research in Tanzania, this paper critically examines the widely circulating notion that African same-sex attracted men are hard-to-reach individuals and populations. Despite expectations to the contrary, it was neither time consuming nor difficult to identify and get to know same-sex attracted men in Dar es Salaam. On the contrary, a large and diverse group of such men could readily be encountered, befriended and involved in HIV-related research. The fieldwork was characterised by communicative openness and the researcher was treated with immense kindliness, hospitality and inclusivity. While we may not be in a position to say that the situation is identical everywhere else, we find reason to caution against accepting and propagating unexplained, unexamined and unverified claims to the effect that same-sex attracted men in Africa cannot be reached. We argue that such claims contribute to stigmatise same-sex attracted men and to hinder much-needed HIV-related research and programming.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. kare.moen@medisin.uio.no
authors.forename: Kåre
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Moen
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Aggleton
authors.forename: Melkizedeck T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Leshabari
authors.forename: Anne-Lise
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Middelthon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D018451:Homosexuality, Male; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011287:Prejudice; D012309:Risk-Taking; D013636:Tanzania / Q000453:epidemiology