Addressing semen loss concerns

Towards culturally appropriate HIV/Aids interventions in Gujarat, India

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3972879
AutoresAruna Lakhani, Ketan Gandhi, Martine Collumbien
Año2001
Volumen9
Número18
Páginas49-59
Fecha de publicación2001-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaReproductive Health Matters (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0968-8080 • E-ISSN: 1460-9576
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1016/s0968-8080(01)90090-4
PMID11765399
OpenAlexW2085392960
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas8
Referencias citadas18

A situation analysis of sexual networking and sexual health in an industrial area of Gujarat, India, identified anxiety about masturbation and other semen loss concerns as major preoccupations among young men. This paper describes how the Deepak Charitable Trust addressed these concerns in their HIV prevention programme for young men aged 15 to 30. Flowcharts were used as participatory learning tools and to obtain data on the perceived consequences of masturbation, both before and after intervention activities. Research was also done on the relation between semen-related anxieties and sexual risk behaviour by DCT and two other NGOs among young men engaging in unsafe sexual behaviour. DCT advocates addressing masturbation and other semen loss concerns in all sexual health campaigns in South Asia, based on the magnitude of these concerns, their potential to confound syndromic management of STIs and their significance as an idiom of psychosocial distress. Masturbation and associated anxieties about sexual performance are seen as health issues and discussed as such by the programme. There is immediate identification among young men, whether or not they are already sexually active, and it provides an excellent entry point for sexual health and safer sex education. The community response to these efforts has been entirely positive

Distress · Environmental health · Population · Psychiatry · Psychological intervention · Psychosocial · Reproductive health · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health · Clinical Psychology · HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions · Medicine · Psychology · Sex work and related issues