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Men can also play an important role in HIV prevention, treatment, and care. Societal expectations of men’s sexual behavior, including early sexual initiation, multiple sexual partners, risky behavior, and aggression in sexual relationships, puts both men and their partners at risk of HIV. The acceptance of a large age gap between men and their female partners provides additional risks of HIV infection to girls and women. Further, men and boys are expected to be knowledgeable about sex, which limits their willingness and ability to access information on HIV prevention. Programs that address these societal norms and expectations can help men take steps to protect themselves and their partners and support them to engage in healthy sexual behavior.

Men can also play an important role in HIV prevention, treatment, and care. Societal expectations of men's sexual behavior, including early sexual initiation, multiple sexual partners, risky behavior, and aggression in sexual relationships, puts both men and their partners at risk of HIV. The acceptance of a large age gap between men and their female partners provides additional risks of HIV infection to girls and women. Further, men and boys are expected to be knowledgeable about sex, which limits their willingness and ability to access information on HIV prevention. Programs that address these societal norms and expectations can help men take steps to protect themselves and their partners and support them to engage in healthy sexual behavior.

Counseling, testing, and treatment programs can reach out to men to ensure they are being tested and receiving appropriate services. These programs can also work to ensure that men are involved in PMTCT services, and that men are supportive of their partners upon disclosure of serostatus and in accessing and adhering to treatment. Finally, HIV/AIDS programs can engage male partners and other men in the community to share in caretaking responsibilities, thereby easing the burden of caring for people infected and affected by AIDS that disproportionately falls on women and girls.

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Overview of the Issues:

• FHI, YouthNet. HIV-Infected Youth (January 2005).
• Panos Institute and UNAIDS. Young Men and HIV: Culture, Poverty and Sexual Risk (2001).
• UN and the ILO, for the Expert Group Meeting on the Role of Men and Boys in Achieving Gender Equality. The Role of Men and Boys in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS in the World of Work (October 2003).
• Addressing the Sexual Cultures of Heterosexual Men: Key Strategies in Involving Men and Boys in HIV/AIDS Prevention
• HIV Prevention with Men: Toward Gender Equality and Social Justice
• Men and Boys Can Make a Difference in the Response to the HIV/AIDS Epidemic
• Men as Partners: Promoting Men’s Involvement in Care and Support Activities for People Living with HIV/AIDS (October 2003)
• The Role of Men in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS
• UNAIDS. Men and AIDS—A Gendered Approach (2000).
• UNAIDS. Men Who Have Sex with Men (accessed online June 15, 2006).
• UNDP. Men and the HIV Epidemic (1999).
• UNFPA. Partners for Change: Enlisting Men in HIV/AIDS Prevention (February 2001)
• The World Bank. Young Men and the Construction of Masculinity in Sub-Saharan Africa: Implications for HIV/AIDS, Conflict and Violence (June 2005).

Program Examples:

• FHI. HIV/AIDS Interventions With Men Who Have Sex With Men (MSM)
• FHI, YouthNet. HIV-Infected Youth (January 2005).
• English
• Spanish
• French
• Futures Group, Policy Project. Men in HIV/AIDS Partnership (May–July 2003).
• Futures Group, Policy Project. Men Who Have Sex with Men in Cambodia: HIV/AIDS Vulnerability, Stigma and Discrimination (January 2004).
• International HIV/AIDS Alliance. Between Men—HIV/STI Prevention for Men Who Have Sex With Men (January 2003).
• International HIV/AIDS Alliance. Working with Men, Responding to AIDS: Gender, Sexuality and HIV—A Case Study Collection (2003).
• JHUCCP. Break the Silence, Talk About AIDS (1999).
• Movement of Men Against AIDS in Kenya (accessed online October 2007).
• Naz Foundation (India) Trust and International HIV/AIDS Alliance. An Introduction to Promoting Sexual Health for Men Who Have Sex With Men and Gay Men—A Training Manual (2001).
• Peacock, D. Men as Partners: South African Men Respond to Violence Against Women and HIV/AIDS (n.d.).
• Population Council. Meeting the Sexual Health Needs of Men Who Have Sex With Men in Senegal (November 2001).
• Population Council. Understanding the HIV/STI Risks and Prevention Needs of Men Who Have Sex With Men in Nairobi, Kenya (September 2005).
• Population Council. Using Men as Community-Based Distributors of Condoms (January 2002).
• Safe Passages to Adulthood. HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care among Especially Vulnerable Young People: A Framework for Action (April 2004).
• UN and the ILO, for the Expert Group Meeting. Men as Partners: Promoting Men’s Involvement in Care and Support Activities for People Living with HIV/AIDS and in Preventing Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV/AIDS (October 2003).
• UNAIDS. AIDS and Men Who Have Sex with Men (2000).
• UNAIDS. Working with Men for HIV Prevention and Care (October 2001).

Programmatic Tools:

• The Alan Guttmacher Institute. Man2Man: A Promising Approach to Addressing the Sexual and Reproductive Health Needs of Young Men (September/October 2003).
• CEDPA. The Better Life Options Program for Adolescent Boys in India
• EngenderHealth, Men as Partners. South Africans Respond to HIV/AIDS and Violence Against Women (July 2005).
• Futures Group, Policy Project. Men in HIV/AIDS Partnership, Provincial Consultative Workshops, South Africa (May–July 2003).
• IGWG. Conference on Engaging Men and Boys in RH/Maternal Health/HIV (October 2005).
• IGWG. Conference on Reaching Men to Improve Reproductive Health for All (September 2003).
• Naz Foundation International. Actions For Life—Developing MSM Sexual Health Services (February 1999).
• Naz Foundation International. Community Mobilising (March 1999).
• Naz Foundation International. Developing A Community-Based Sexual Health Service for MSM in South Asia (August 1999).
• Naz Foundation International. Developing Community-Based Organisations Addressing HIV, Sexual Health, Welfare and Human Rights Issues for Males Who Have Sex With Males, Their Partners and Families (2006).
• Naz Foundation International. Male Sexual Behaviors and STD/HIV Prevention: A Training Manual for Peer Educators (1998).
• Naz Foundation International. A Rights Based Framework for Preventing the Transmission of HIV Among Men Who Have Sex With Men (November 2002).
• Sahayog. Manual for Working with Men on Gender, Sexuality, Violence and Health (April 2005).
• Sonenstein, F., ed. Young Men’s Sexual and Reproductive Health. Toward a National Strategy (December 2000).
• Stepping Stones (July 2004).
• The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). Gender, HIV and Human Rights: A Training Manual (2000).

Research and Evaluation:

• The Alan Guttmacher Institute. In Their Own Right. Addressing the Sexual and Reproductive Health Needs of American Men (March 2003).
• Barker, Gary. How Do We Know If Men Have Changed? Promoting and Measuring Change with Young Men. Lessons from Program H in Latin America (October 2003).
• FHI. Sexual Behaviors, STIs and HIV among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (2000).
• Population Council. Involving Young Men in HIV Prevention Programs (December 2004).
• Population Council. Male Circumcision and HIV Prevention: Directions for Future Research (June 2000).
• Population Council. A Targeted Intervention Falls Short: Study in South African Mining Community Highlights Importance of Understanding Sexual Networks (December 2005).
• Population Council. What’s a Real Man? (December 2004).
• Sternberg, P. and J. Hubley. Evaluating Men’s Involvement as a Strategy in Sexual and Reproductive Health Promotion (2004).