Paper short abstract:

In my presentation, basing on my research in Germany (2023) and France (2021), I will focus on the building of the PrEP and TasP literacy among GBMSM and trans* migrant and refugee communities through the sexual health activism of HIV/AIDS-prevention and LGBTQ+ organisations.

Paper long abstract:

New biomedical technologies, such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and treatment as prevention (TasP), have become scientifically established to be highly effective HIV/AIDS prevention methods. In a radical shift, PrEP and TasP may be seen as providing biomedically informed contexts in which the spectre of HIV is removed from male-to-male and people living with HIV are destigmatized. To work and to bring (social) change, PrEP and TasP, being products of modern biomedical science, have to be "translated" into discourses and languages spoken by the communities that may benefit from using them.

In my presentation, basing on my research in Germany (2023) and France (2021), I would like to focus on PrEP and U=U activism of HIV/AIDS-prevention and LGBTQ+ organisations towards GBMSM and trans* migrants and refugees. PrEP and U=U literacy is part of HIV literacy which is defined as “[t]he ability and skills of individuals and communities that means they are equipped and willing to engage with HIV, have access to and understand HIV information, able to apply learned HIV information within their sexual practice and able to engage with others about this HIV knowledge and related sexual practices” . Thus, it is essential that biomedical discourses of transnational actors (e.g., WHO, ECDC) are translated within the local context, with socio-cultural, ethnic, economic, migrant factors taken into account, by place-based institutions and community-based organizations into languages that could be understood by local GBMSM and trans* communities.