Setting the scene

"Young People, Violence and Strategic Interventions in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)" brings together data and case studies from a range of SSA countries. While the findings are diverse, a set of themes predominate: they reveal that violence, embedded in everyday lived realities, is a complex and urgent issue that should be comprehensively probed. While moments of political and xenophobic violence are reflected upon, critical attention is firmly on young women and their grappling with sexual and gender-based violence. The COVID lens has magnified micro-struggles and long-standing structural problems showing how inequities and disadvantages have created an infrastructure through which violence has been exacerbated. There is also a focus on masculinities constructed by oppressive histories, social and economic crises, and state disregard, but with the message that marginality should not be reified, nor the gendered practices of young men oversimplified. In all the chapters, contextual specificities and insightful case studies offer thoughts and arguments about the ways in which violence manifests, what interventionist strategies are compelling, and how young people's proactive involvement in interventions could begin to address the problem of violence. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Males' experiences of gender-based violence in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA): A review of literature

Globally, gender-based violence (GBV) continues to be a serious global health, human rights, and development issue. There is no standard definition of GBV, but it can be enacted under different forms such as physical violence, sexual violence, economic violence, psychological and emotional aggression (including coercive tactics) directed at someone because of their biological sex or gender identity. Most literature focuses on violence against females (both heterosexual and homosexual) and children, with little focus on males' perspectives. Most GBV narratives present males as perpetrators of violence. Recent statistics show that intimate partner violence (IPV) increased during the COVID-19 pandemic due to increased unemployment, substance abuse and reduced economic status. Recent country specific statistics are sparse but understanding the males' perceptions and experiences of GBV can assist with identifying appropriate interventions to deal with GBV. This critical review highlights critical knowledge gaps in the existing literature and a need for future research within Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Uptake among Black Men Who Have Sex with Men (BMSM) in the Southern U.S.

Black men who have sex with men (BMSM) living in the United States (U.S.) South are disproportionately affected by HIV and experience significant disparities in HIV incidence, access to HIV care, and prevention across ages and socio-economic statuses. The aim of this commentary is to critically review current literature on the state of PrEP use among BMSM in the U.S. South, including identifying barriers and facilitators to PrEP use in order to inform intervention development. Extant literature shows that despite the documented benefits of PrEP as an effective HIV-prevention method, its uptake among BMSM is limited across the U.S. South. Common barriers to PrEP uptake included stigma, homophobia, mistrust of healthcare systems, negative attitudes from healthcare providers, access and transportation issues, poverty, and misinformation about PrEP. These barriers are likely to have been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Limited access to PrEP and other HIV-prevention programs, such as HIV testing, post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), and condoms for BMSM are likely increase HIV incidence in this community. Moreover, the rapid expansion of telehealth services during the COVID-19 period may offer increased opportunity to scale-up PrEP through telehealth interventions, especially if in-person services remain limited due to pandemic precautions. Given the intersectional barriers that limit the access and uptake of PrEP among BMSM, we suggest that tailored programs or interventions that seek to address PrEP disparities among Southern BMSM should adopt intersectional and interdisciplinary approaches to better understand the complex challenges of scaling up PrEP. More studies are needed to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on HIV-prevention services among BMSM and to understand how to co-develop-with the BMSM community and healthcare providers-culturally acceptable interventions to reduce the identified challenges using intersectional and interdisciplinary approaches.

Engaging the 'Missing Men' in the HIV Treatment Cascade: Creating a Tailored Intervention to Improve Men's Uptake of HIV Care Services in Rural South Africa: A Study Protocol.

Men, especially young men, have been consistently missing from the HIV care cascade, leading to poor health outcomes in men and ongoing transmission of HIV in young women in South Africa. Although these men may not be missing for the same reasons across the cascade and may need different interventions, early work has shown similar trends in men's low uptake of HIV care services and suggested that the social costs of testing and accessing care are extremely high for men, particularly in South Africa. Interventions and data collection have hitherto, by and large, focused on men in relation to HIV prevention in women and have not approached the problem through the male lens. Using the participatory method, the overall aim of this study is to improve health outcomes in men and women through formative work to co-create male-specific interventions in an HIV-hyper endemic setting in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.