PMID- 35818868
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20220713
LR  - 20220818
IS  - 1758-2652 (Electronic)
IS  - 1758-2652 (Linking)
VI  - 25 Suppl 1
IP  - Suppl 1
DP  - 2022 Jul
TI  - A qualitative study of how stigma influences HIV services for transgender men and 
      women in Nigeria.
PG  - e25933
LID - 10.1002/jia2.25933 [doi]
LID - e25933
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Transgender men and women in Nigeria experience many barriers in 
      accessing HIV prevention and treatment services, particularly given the 
      environment of transphobia (including harassment, violence and discrimination) 
      and punitive laws in the country. HIV epidemic control in Nigeria requires 
      improving access to and quality of HIV services for key populations at high risk, 
      including transgender men and women. We assessed how stigma influences HIV 
      services for transgender people in Lagos, Nigeria. METHODS: In-depth interviews 
      (IDIs) and focus group discussions were conducted with transgender men (n = 13) 
      and transgender women (n = 25); IDIs were conducted with community service 
      organization (CSO) staff (n = 8) and healthcare providers from CSO clinics and 
      public health facilities (n = 10) working with the transgender population in 
      March 2021 in Lagos. Content analysis was used to identify how stigma influences 
      transgender people's experiences with HIV services. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Three 
      main findings emerged. First, gender identity disclosure is challenging due to 
      anticipated stigma experienced by transgender persons and fear of legal 
      repercussions. Fear of being turned in to authorities was a major barrier to 
      disclose to providers in facilities not affiliated with a transgender-inclusive 
      clinic. Providers also reported difficulty in eliciting information about the 
      client's gender identity. Second, respondents reported lack of sensitivity among 
      providers about gender identity and conflation of transgender men with lesbian 
      women and transgender women with being gay or men who have sex with men, the 
      latter being more of a common occurrence. Transgender participants also reported 
      feeling disrespected when providers were not sensitive to their pronoun of 
      preference. Third, HIV services that are not transgender-inclusive and 
      gender-affirming can reinforce stigma. Both transgender men and women spoke about 
      experiencing stigma and being refused HIV services, especially in mainstream 
      public health facilities, as opposed to transgender-inclusive CSO clinics. 
      CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights how stigma impedes access to appropriate HIV 
      services for transgender men and women, which can have a negative impact along 
      the HIV care continuum. There is a need for transgender-inclusive HIV services 
      and competency trainings for healthcare providers so that transgender clients can 
      receive appropriate and gender-affirming HIV services.
CI  - (c) 2022 The Authors. Journal of the International AIDS Society published by John 
      Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of the International AIDS Society.
FAU - Tun, Waimar
AU  - Tun W
AD  - Social and Behavioral Science Research, Population Council, Washington, DC, USA.
FAU - Pulerwitz, Julie
AU  - Pulerwitz J
AD  - Social and Behavioral Science Research, Population Council, Washington, DC, USA.
FAU - Shoyemi, Elizabeth
AU  - Shoyemi E
AD  - Centre for Population and Health Initiatives, Lagos, Nigeria.
FAU - Fernandez, Anita
AU  - Fernandez A
AD  - Population Council, Lagos, Nigeria.
FAU - Adeniran, Adepeju
AU  - Adeniran A
AD  - TIERS, Lagos, Nigeria.
FAU - Ejiogu, Franklin
AU  - Ejiogu F
AD  - Creme de la Creme, Lagos, Nigeria.
FAU - Sangowawa, Olusegun
AU  - Sangowawa O
AD  - Population Council, Abuja, Nigeria.
FAU - Granger, Krista
AU  - Granger K
AD  - Social and Behavioral Science Research, Population Council, Washington, DC, USA.
FAU - Dirisu, Osasuyi
AU  - Dirisu O
AD  - Policy Innovation Unit, Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Lagos, Nigeria.
FAU - Adedimeji, Adebola A
AU  - Adedimeji AA
AD  - Population Council, Abuja, Nigeria.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PL  - Switzerland
TA  - J Int AIDS Soc
JT  - Journal of the International AIDS Society
JID - 101478566
SB  - IM
MH  - Female
MH  - Gender Identity
MH  - *HIV Infections/epidemiology
MH  - Health Services Accessibility
MH  - Homosexuality, Male
MH  - Humans
MH  - Male
MH  - Nigeria
MH  - *Sexual and Gender Minorities
MH  - Social Stigma
MH  - *Transgender Persons
PMC - PMC9274359
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - HIV
OT  - HIV care continuum
OT  - gender-affirming
OT  - stigma
OT  - transgender
OT  - transgender-inclusive services
EDAT- 2022/07/13 06:00
MHDA- 2022/07/14 06:00
PMCR- 2022/07/12
CRDT- 2022/07/12 04:23
PHST- 2021/10/29 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2022/05/05 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2022/07/12 04:23 [entrez]
PHST- 2022/07/13 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2022/07/14 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2022/07/12 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - JIA225933 [pii]
AID - 10.1002/jia2.25933 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - J Int AIDS Soc. 2022 Jul;25 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):e25933. doi: 10.1002/jia2.25933.