afraid of coming to GALZ, there are still a number of challenges being experienced. Some people remain secretive as they do not want people in their neighbourhood knowing who they associate with. “We are reaching out to our members on a one on one basis through peer educators, but this is less effective versus when they voluntarily congregate at the Centre. Now that you are dealing with individuals scattered all over, it is very difficult to follow up on interventions, and we do not know where everyone lives and not everyone wants people to know where he or she lives”. – GALZ Staff Member. Health Issues: Lubricants and condoms GALZ has been central to addressing the health concerns of the LGBTI community as they provide IEC, condoms, lubricants and referrals to health centres considered ‘gay friendly’. Together with partner organisations, GALZ has run a series of workshops and discussions on health issues with the LGBTI community and has also extended training to some health service providers. This initiative has been crucial in the prevention, treatment and management of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, and staff noted that they had realised some significant achievements. They have also witnessed a decline in new infections of STIs, significant behaviour change and positive living among those infected. However the staff fears that all the progress that has been made may be eroded because of the immediate and long term effects of the raids. 30 An Assessment of the impact of state sanctioned and unsanctioned raids on GALZ premises and gatherings

Select target paragraph3

Add to table of contents