Publication Cover
Global Public Health
An International Journal for Research, Policy and Practice
Volume 13, 2018 - Issue 5
550
Views
9
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Original Articles

Qualitative examination of enacted stigma towards gay and bisexual men and related health outcomes in Tajikistan, Central Asia

ORCID Icon &
Pages 597-611 | Received 20 Sep 2015, Accepted 08 Aug 2016, Published online: 29 Aug 2016
 

ABSTRACT

Gay and bisexual men (GBM) in Tajikistan are an extremely stigmatised group at high risk for sexually transmitted infections and HIV. However, there is a paucity of research on how and in what way stigma affects their lives. We conducted a qualitative study to examine the impact of stigma on GBM’s lives in Tajikistan, focusing on stigma enactors, settings, factors affecting vulnerability of GBM and health consequences. Eight individual in-depth interviews and 3 focus-group discussions with 13 participants (N = 21) from GBM community were conducted in two cities of Tajikistan. Results reveal that police frequently engage in blackmail and perpetrate sexual and physical violence against GBM. Service providers often discriminate against GBM limiting their access to health and legal services. Exposure to stigma results in chronic stress affecting mental health of GBM. Fear of disclosure, low social cohesion, absence of prominent opinion leaders and activists reduce resilience of GBM community to stigma. State-sanctioned violations of human rights of marginalised populations and lack of effective legal protection mechanisms have enabled widespread harassment of GBM. These findings warrant further research on stigma leading to the development of culturally adapted and tailored multilevel structural interventions, including broad legal and policy reforms.

Acknowledgements

We would like to say thank you to NGOs working with GBM and other MSM in Tajikistan who helped us with conducting this study. We are extremely grateful to Dr Kirk Elifson, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, for his invaluable comments on the draft manuscript. Finally, we express our deep gratitude to our participants for their openness and courage.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Log in via your institution

Log in to Taylor & Francis Online

PDF download + Online access
  • 48 hours access to article PDF & online version
  • Article PDF can be downloaded
  • Article PDF can be printed
USD 53.00 Add to cart
* Local tax will be added as applicable

Related Research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.