Schorer is implementing an HIV- and STI-prevention programme through the end of 2010 with 17 partner organisations in nine countries in southern Africa, Latin America and Suriname. The partners consist of organisations for gays, lesbians and transgenders, HIV/AIDS organisations and general human rights organisations. The programme, which started in 2007, is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

With this prevention programme[link naar 6.2], Schorer is responding to the call for more prevention worldwide. UNAIDS has calculated that less than one out of five people who run a substantial risk of becoming infected with HIV has access to prevention activities. Schorer’s efforts focus on men who have sex with men (MSM) and women who have sex with women (WSW).

MSM – and in some regions also WSW – run an increased risk of contracting HIV through their higher-risk sexual practices, their lack of knowledge and skills in terms of condom use and their limited access to HIV- and STI-testing facilities, among other things.

These factors are closely linked to the fact that MSM and WSW often have to deal with being discriminated against, excluded and marginalised. In the countries where Schorer’s partner organisations are active, sexual diversity can often hardly even be discussed; sometimes it is even forbidden by law. MSM and WSW in those countries are also confronted with sexual violence, which puts them at even greater risk of contracting HIV and STI. Mainstream prevention initiatives in many countries pay little attention to these groups.