Laws criminalizing homosexuality increase risk of gay men getting HIV
aidsmap reports.In countries with laws harshly penalizing homosexuality, MSM are 4.6 times more likely to be living with HIV than those in countries where same-sex sexual activity is legal, researchers found.For countries where criminalization exists, but punishments are less severe, MSM are more than twice as likely to be living with HIV.Researchers analyzed 8,113 MSM in 10 sub-Saharan countries with varying degrees of criminalization: Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, and Rwanda, where homosexuality is legal; Cameroon, Senegal, Togo, and eSwatini, where homosexuality is punished with less than eight years in prison; and Gambia and Nigeria, where MSM face more than ten years in prison for having sex.In the four countries without.
