It is important to involve religious leaders and faith based groups in SRHR work as they play crucial roles in the life of people. Many difficult ethical issues raised by certain strategies - such as promoting condom use or meeting the SRHR needs of people with certain sexual orientations - can be resolved sufficiently to allow collaboration and compromise if addressed openly and with mutual respect. Developing initiatives from a shared sense of compassion and a commitment to serve others can bring together even those who may be far apart in the other particulars of their beliefs and values - to the benefit of all. IPPF member associations have already made some initiatives in engaging religious leaders in SRHR work in countries like Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
Research Summary: A glimpse of the beloved – Faith, cultures and sexualities is a pilot study on the impact of Islamic belief, traditions and customs on Muslim males who have sex with males. (See the
study at http://www.solutionexchange-
un.net.in/aids/resource/res-01-091107-01.pdf). The challenge of HIV/AIDS has also generated a range of responses from and about religious belief. HIV/AIDS is about sexual transmission within a context of social frameworks, sexual practices, gender, masculinities and femininities, and sexualities. The need to address vulnerabilities and risks, particularly in terms of male-to-male sex in a broad range of societies and cultures has created a range of tensions and conflict between public health and religious belief. How this challenge is addressed is an urgent enquiry. This study is a small part of addressing this challenge. It explores the textual frameworks of Islam, and what it has to say about masculinities and sexualities with a particular focus on male-to-male sex. In fact, while there are references of male-to-male sexual behavior in the Quran, Sharia and Hadith, there are not any consistent statements either against or in favor of such behavior. This brief and limited study into Islam and its beliefs about male-to-male sexualities and behavior indicates that there is not one rigid belief, but a range of possible interpretations and beliefs from the severely condemnatory to what appears to be a tolerance of such behaviors but within a gendered framework, i.e. boys penetrated, and the existence of men who have no “vigor” towards women, and are therefore like females. More needs to be done in developing a fuller understanding of Islam in terms of its textual references, and their various interpretations, along with the cultural mix in which they are practices, particularly Sufism.
Resources: Training manual, HIV, AIDS and Islam - A Workshop Manual Based on Compassion, Responsibility and Justice, produced by Positive Muslims, South Africa, USAID and CORE is available at:http://www.coreinitiative.org/Resources/Publications/CORE_PM.pdf. It is a resource on working with religious leaders. It contains possible exercises to conduct in workshop settings and examples of questions to ask and train them.
News: A joint Call for Action to combat family based violence was made at a Religious Leaders’ Workshop on Family Based Violence as a Reproductive Health Issue on 28 October, 2007 at Hyderabad in India by experts and Islamic religious leaders from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Iran. It urged national governments in these three countries to support the dissemination of information that draw on religion as a driving force to promote national development goals, particularly issues relating to family based violence. For details contact access@ippfsar.org
Events: XVII International AIDS Conference on Universal Action Now to be held at Mexico City from 3-8 August 2008 has started accepting abstracts. The deadline is 19 February 2008. See guidelines for abstract submission at:
http://www.aids2008.org/subpage.aspx?pageId=355.