Gay men the focus of AIDS awareness campaign
Dewi Santoso, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Concern about unsafe sexual activities among gays and male sex workers prompted Hendy M. Sahertian to dedicate his life to raising their awareness of the danger of HIV/AIDS.
His compassion was a result of meeting his gay partner -- an activist who works for the Axis of AIDS (ASA) -- in 1999.
The two established the Pelangi Kasih Nusantara Foundation (YPKN), a non-governmental organization that focuses on HIV/AIDS among gays and male sex workers, in Jakarta on Nov. 7, 1999.
Funded by both the ASA and Family Health International (FHI), YPKN's agenda is to promote the use of condoms in places known to be frequented by gays and male sex workers.
"Every day we go to places where there are gays and male sex workers. We try to build a personal relationship with them first before we provide them with information on HIV/AIDS and finally encourage them use condoms," Hendy, who heads the YPKN, said on Saturday.
The focus is on helping them reduce the risk of being exposed to HIV/AIDS due to their sexual activities.
A recent study conducted by the YPKN and ASA revealed that gays account for 10 percent of the male population in Indonesia, and approximately 3 percent of them have HIV/AIDS.
Like female sex workers, male sex workers said they chose the profession for economic reasons, he said.
"It is a cliche reason. The fact is that many of them are gays, but are afraid of the label. They pursue the profession in order to find partners," Hendy told The Jakarta Post.
He admitted that persuading them to use condoms was not always easy as many of them regarded sex as a private matter.
"It's difficult because they think we are trying to meddle with what they do behind closed doors," he said.
Despite the obstacles, he said he would keep on encouraging them to change their high-risk sexual behavior.
One of his concrete moves will be a campaign on the use of condoms on Dec. 19 in a cafe in South Jakarta.
Hendy said YPKN cooperated with other NGOs such as Mitra Indonesia Foundation and Pita in May to provide counseling for gays and male sex workers.
YPKN also opened a health clinic in May along with ASA and the Indonesia Family Planning Association (PKBI) for gays and transvestites, to provide them with HIV/AIDS treatment, to conduct HIV tests, to distribute antiretroviral drugs and to provide medical care for other sexually transmitted diseases' (STDs).
When asked whether he was concerned that he would contract the virus due to his work with people with HIV/AIDS, he firmly answered: "No."
"I used to have that fear before I became an activist. Being an activist has given me a lot of knowledge about how to protect myself," he said.