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While research now highlights that men who have sex with men (MSM) in places such as South Africa are at particular risk of HIV infection, left relatively unexplored are potential relationships between one of the most pressing social issues affecting peri-urban MSM - namely homophobic stigma - and sexual risk-taking behaviour. Drawing on research from the Ukwazana baseline study of 316 township MSM in Cape Town we examine how homophobic stigma relates to psychosocial factors such as depression and self-efficacy and the risk activity of unprotected anal intercourse (UAI). By deploying cross-sectional association models, we examine a series of relationships between these variables and offer evidence to suggest that HIV prevention programmes aimed at sexual minority groups should be mindful of potentially complex relationships between social stigmas such as homophobia and sexual risk-taking behaviour.

Research reveals how homophobia and stigma link closely to HIV among men who have sex with men in sub-Saharan Africa. This paper considers the varying impact of homophobic stigma on HIV prevention programmes among men who have sex with men in South Africa. It explores how a community-based HIV prevention programme based in the peri-urban townships of Cape Town was ‘translated’ to peri-urban Johannesburg. Drawing on interviews with volunteers and programme facilitators in Johannesburg, it argues that an altered homophobic environment to that found in Cape Town gave different opportunities to engage both with other men who have sex with men and the broader community. It also argues that programme facilitators should be mindful of how varying degrees of homophobic stigma may relate to broader theoretical debates about sexual binary relationships, which can help us understand why particular programmes choose to focus on certain activities rather than others. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]