From Social Silence to Social Science :: Same-sex sexuality, HIV & AIDS and Gender in South Africa

“This book constitutes a rigorous and courageous move in twenty-first century knowledges of HIV, gender, sexuality, and social spaces within different African contexts. Presenting innovative theory and new research data, the diverse collection of writers argue for the need to include homosexuality within efforts to understanding and control the AIDS epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa. Such a call has nothing to do with re-stigmatization of homosexuality or with on-going political and cultural efforts to deny human rights to lesbian, gay, transgendered, and bi-sexual people; the writers are a feisty and diverse group of psychologists, social scientists, policy analysts and cultural critics who believe that it's time for all denials around the meaning and impact of HIV and AIDS to be confronted, explored, and addressed with clarity and vision.”

- Jane Bennett, Professor, African Gender Institute, University of Cape Town

“Historically, the persistent silence around sexual diversity in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa is one of the worst mistakes of the regional - and global response to the pandemic, as has recently been recognized. This pioneering book retrieves the thinking and experience of a number of respected scholars and activists who provide a broad perspective on the importance of sexual cultures and sexual diversity in any serious attempt to understand the South African HIV epidemic. They also emphasize the role of the social sciences in uncovering this particular kind of 'evidence', and discuss the implications of these extremely important insights for HIV prevention and care from a human rights perspective. Anybody genuinely interested in achieving universal access to HIV prevention and care in Africa, and in promoting the human rights of all, should read this book.”

- Carlos F. Caceres, MD, PhD, Professor of Public Health, Cayetano Heredia University, Lima (Peru); Chair of the International Association for the Study of Sexuality, Culture and Society. Editor of AIDS and sex between men in Latin America: Vulnerabilities, Strengths and Proposals for Action (Lima: UPCH/UNAIDS, 2003)

"This book is an important and timely contribution to debates about same-sex sexuality in the context of HIV and AIDS. There is a good balance between academic, community and activist perspectives that I am certain will contribute to broadening our knowledge of marginalised sexualities in the era of HIV and AIDS. The insights should also foster interventions for same-sex people and enable the promotion of justice, equality and dignity for LGBTi people."

- Phumi Mtetwa, Director, Lesbian & Gay Equality Project, South Africa

“From Social Silence to Social Science: Same-Sex Sexuality, HIV & AIDS and Gender in South Africa is a pioneering volume. Originating out of a groundbreaking conference that brought together researchers, activists and practitioners drawn from multiple sexual communities and cultures, this publication represents much more than simply a conference volume. It is a transformative intellectual event. It maps out the theoretical and methodological approaches that have been developed in this field or research, documents the histories of non-normative sexual communities, and provides an authoritative summary of what is known today about same-sex practicing peoples in sub-Saharan Africa generally and in South Africa in particular. Equally important, it unmasks the ways in which same-sex sexualities have been silenced in African HIV and AIDS epidemics, documenting the tragic consequences of this silence, and pointing the way forward toward finally addressing this tragedy in a meaningful way through innovative programs, committed policies, and engaged social science research. Nobody working on these issues will be able to think about them in the same ways that they used to after reading this volume – just as no one previously unconcerned about them can afford to ignore this work!”

- Richard Parker, Professor of Sociomedical Sciences and Director of the Center for Gender, Sexuality and Health at Columbia University in New York City, Director and President of the Brazilian Interdisciplinary AIDS Association (ABIA) in Rio de Janeiro, and Co-Chair of Sexuality Policy Watch (SPW)

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From social silence to social science / Gay Pages 1 December 2009

From Social Silence to Social Science

Same-sex sexuality, HIV & AIDS and Gender in South Africa

Vasu Reddy, Theo Sandfort & Laetitia Rispel (eds)