ENGLISH

«US» AND «THEM»

Although homosexuality is no longer illegal in Russia, many homosexual and bisexual people continue to be discriminated against by all levels of society. The gay issue in Russia is still surrounded by misunderstanding. According to the nation-wide survey conducted by Levada-Center in 2007, the majority of Russians (84%) still regarded homosexuality as unacceptable, just as marijuana smoking and gambling (73%), alcohol abuse (73%) or polygamy, plural marriage (74%).

In many respects, rejection of homosexuality is a result of a series of historical precedents.

The Russian MSM timeline

Ø Before 1832 attraction between persons of the same sex was a strictly religious and moral issue.

Ø 1832 – 1903 — the new criminal law system modeled after the German system. It included paragraph 995, in which «muzelozstvo» (anal contact between men) was an offense punishable by revocation of certain rights and property, as well as banishment to Siberia for 4-5 years.

Ø 1903 – 1930 — a new punitive law is enacted, whereby section 516 punished «muzelozstvo» with incarceration of up to 3 months.

Ø 1930 – 1955 — during the peak of the Soviet totalitarian regime, total control of the individual led to overall repression, repression of sexuality in general, and the extermination of homosexuals.

Ø 1956 – 1986 — attempts were made to remedy and heal homosexuality as a psychological disorder.

Ø May 27, 1993– President Boris Yeltsin nullified statute 121.1 of the criminal code of the Russian Federation, which punished «muzelozstvo» with 3-5 years of imprisonment.

Ø 1996 — the start of the HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases (STIs) epidemics.

Ø 1999 — medical diagnosis of homosexuality as a psychological disorder is annulled.

Ø 2002 — Protect Yourself, the first Russian project aimed at HIV and STI prevention among men having sex with men (MSM) is implemented in Moscow and Saint Petersburg only.

Ø 2003 — the Russian parliament debates adapting an anti-homosexual statute into the criminal code. It did not pass.

Ø 2006 — Moscow city authorities ban an attempt to hold the first ever Gay Pride Parade in Russia. Those gathered in defiance of the ban are broken up by riot police, the members of the Orthodox Church and nationalist groups.

ARE GAYS AND MSM ENTITLED TO EQUAL ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE?

Discrimination on the part of certain political movements, the Orthodox Church and society as a whole has limited the access to vital services for gays and MSM. The reason is that homophobia, and the resulting stigmatization and discrimination on the part of the medical community have made it difficult for some gays and MSM to receive basic medical attention.

Many men find it hard to overcome the psychological barrier associated with doctors and medical institutions, which has reduced their propensity to go for checkups, HIV tests or even to seek basic information on HIV prevention. This is particularly worrisome, since gays and MSM are invariably vulnerable to HIV infection.

As of February 1, 2007, there are 376,825 officially registered cases of HIV infection. Experts put this figure at three times as many. There is no reliable data describing the spread of HIV among the gay and MSM populations in Russia.

Results of social surveys are reallythe best indicator of just how low are the levels of tolerance and understanding towards minority persons in Russia.

A reflection of the depth of Russian homophobia, as represented by the results of national surveys conducted by the Livada Center in 1998, 2001 and 2005...

Question: What is homosexuality?

31% — an illness or a result of psychological trauma

36% — a result of degeneracy and bad habits

20% — a sexual orientation that has the right to exist

THE LASKY PROJECT: WHO ARE WE?

In 2004, The Center for Social Development and Information (CSDI), a locally registered, Russian charity organization and affiliate of the international non-profit organization Population Services International (PSI), launched an HIV/STI prevention project targeting gays and MSM in Russia. The project has evolved and continues today under the brand name “LaSky – Trusting Each Other”. The brand name "LaSky" is purely CSDI development.

One of the main operating principles of LaSky is openness. We actively collaborate with those non-profit organizations, private sector and government institutions that are interested in working against the spread of HIV. Our openness permits us to readily share ideas, opinions, and innovative solutions.

LaSky’s greatest strength lies in the use of world’s best practices and assistance of foreign HIV prevention experts. We value every opportunity to communicate with specialists in the field. Thus, we actively seek to establish new partnerships with international organizations, including those that are focused on the gay community.

We remain outside politics and religion, as we help gay and MSM populations to maintain their health and improve their quality of life.

Our motto — «No stigma. No prejudice». We do not discriminate in favor of one group or another. We treat everyone the same. Whether you are healthy or HIV positive, a lawyer, engineer, bus driver or a sex worker, involved in a steady relationship or enjoying personal freedom – we are ready to support everyone who needs our help.

Every person is entitled to assistance in managing their health and the health of their partner!

LaSky is a program that deals with HIV and STI prevention broadly; however, we do pay close attention to:

Ø Club-going young males and mature men

Ø Men involved in steady relationships

Ø Deaf and hearing-impaired gays and bisexuals

Ø HIV-positive gays

Ø Formal and informal sex workers and their clients

Ø Homeless and jobless men, migrants to big cities

GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE

Created as a CSDI project, LaSky is a unique HIV/AIDS prevention network for gays and MSM in Russia. The LaSky network consist of 12 regional NGO’s from 13 regions of Russia: Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, Vologda and Cherepovets, Kazan, Kemerovo and Novokuznetsk, Krasnoyarsk, Orenburg, Pskov, Samara, Saratov and Balakovo, Sochi, Tomsk, Yekaterinburg.

We make certain that our work is highly sensitive to cultural, ethnic and political traditions of each region.

We look forward to further expanding LaSky programmatic activities in Russia! The more cities and regions are aligned with us, the more potent will our efforts be: each one independent, yet all together…

WHAT WE DO

The following list of programmatic activitiesis by no means all inclusive. Indeed, whether independently or collaboration with our regional partners, we are constantly looking for new ways and means of delivering our safer lifestyle message to those who need it most. Here are just some of the programmatic activities currently under way under the auspices of the LaSky program:

RESEARCH

Large-scale HIV-related monitoring and behavioral risk evaluation surveys among MSM have not been conducted in Russia or in any of the former Soviet countries. In addition, there are no reliable or up-to-date official figures of the number of MSM and MSM living with HIV/AIDS. However, experience of the LaSky HIV prevention project and its own research shows that HIV prevalence among MSM is most likely underestimated. For example, a survey conducted by LaSky in Moscow and Saint-Petersburg in 2008 shows that 5.7% of MSM is HIV-positive2. Due to risky behavior of gay individuals, there is a high probability that the HIV transmission rate among MSM continues to increase and worsens the situation.

In order to solve a problem, one must fi rst understand its roots. Our own research studies in the various regions of the Russian Federation help us gain important insights into the nature of some of the problems faced by the gay community in regards to HIV/AIDS. For instance, we have ascertained the following:

Ø Gays and bisexuals are rather highly informed about HIV/AIDS and STIs, but nevertheless, they continue to practice high-risk sexual behaviors.

Ø For instance, 42.4 percent of participants in one of our studies indicated that maintaining their health was not a priority. Furthermore, 12 percent of MSM reported consuming club drugs and around 3 percent are injection drug users.

Ø In addition, 52 percent are convinced that condoms decreased sexual pleasure.

Ø Only 45 percent of the respondents recognize that an HIV test must be accompanied by pre and post-test counseling. Many men prefer not to seek information or help from established medical and social institutions for fear of negative attitudes towards them on the part of the staff.*

* Understanding Risk Profi les: Results of the «Healthy Sexual Behavior» Internet Survey among MSM in the Russian Federation. Social Marketing Research Series. PSI. 2006.

The data constitutes proof that the projects designed to prevent and treat HIV/STIs among

MSM, as well as to advocate MSM needs, such as LaSky, are of great significance for society.

According to LaSky research, only 57.6% of MSM used condoms during last anal sex in 2007

compared to 75.8% in 2009 where exposed to program activities.

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS

LaSky trainings are a special source of pride! All educational programs are of course focused on HIV and STI prevention. But, each individual training module spotlights a different aspect of HIV and STI-related activities, particularly as they relate to the MSM community. Topics covered include: living with HIV, conducting outreach work, mobilizing social networks, HIV/STI prevention through behavior change, dealings with popular opinion leaders and others.

At least two times a year in Moscow, we gather a panel of regional project managers and leaders of the gay and MSM community. These meetings allow us to engage in teambuilding and share positive and negative experiences encountered in our work. In addition, this presents a valuable opportunity for the central office to assess the needs of regional offices and engage in strategic planning.

The main event in the LaSky training cycle is the annual summertime seven-day workshop on outreach. The seminar attracts not only Russians, but also representatives of gay and MSM communities from the ex-Soviet states of Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus. The education sessions are conducted by leading local and international professionals in HIV prevention and social work.

OUTREACH

If MSM do not reach out to HIV prevention specialists, then the specialists must reach out to them.

In the field, outreach workers engage gays and MSM in discussion regarding safe sexual behavior. Their fieldwork is concentrated in places favored by MSM, such as popular hangouts and nightclubs.

Over the past two years, approximately 10,000 young gays and MSM have been contacted in the street with safer sexual behavior messages, as well as handed literature on HIV/STI prevention and supplied with condoms and lubricants. Importantly, the teams of outreach workers consist of not only young homosexual men, but also socially-minded heterosexual young men and women.

MASS MEDIA CAMPAIGNS

Gay-oriented magazines and web sites are some of the most important fronts in our PR battle against the spread of HIV.

Beginning 2005, Queer – a popular gay-oriented publication – has featured our advertising campaign called «Gay Opinion Leaders in HIV». The crocks of the campaign are rather simple – gay popular opinion leaders address the gay and bisexual community and explain why it is so important to use condoms and lubricants, as well as how to make relations with a partner as safe as possible. Since its inception, more than 300,000 issues of the magazine have delivered our message to the target audience.

In addition, our partners include BF, an information/entertainment publication, Fetish BDSM, a fetishist publication, as well as the national Russian gay-portals and smaller, regional gay-oriented web sites.

THE WWW.LASKY.RU WEB SITE

The site serves as a virtual calling cardfor the LaSky program in the World Wide Web. There, one can find resources on HIV/AIDS-related issues, including HIV prevention, STIs and men’s health for gays and MSM — all written and presented in a straightforward, relevant manner.

The Internet is a convenient vehicle for the dissemination of targeted prevention messages among large numbers of people. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine how our outreach workers would reach such a large audience in person, meaning outside the Internet. This is what makes our web site particularly unique and effective: it is dedicated foremost to people who have not been previously exposed to any HIV prevention programs. This would include, for instance, gay people in specific regions and small towns, where gay infrastructure is nonexistent or underdeveloped, as well as the deaf and hearing-impaired MSM population.

HEARING-IMPAIRED AND DEAF MSM

The work being done with the hearing-impaired and deaf gay population is one of our trademark HIV/STD prevention strategies. Before our Moscow specialists got involved in beginning to address this need, HIV/STI-related knowledge among the hearing-impaired and deaf gay population was in short supply. As for other cities and towns, we anticipate that educational programs for the deaf will soon take hold there as well.

Deaf gays often erect barriers of distrust, which are challenging to break down. They do so in response to the two-tiered isolation from society — due to their inability to hear and being of a different sexual orientation. This is why, while outreach remains the m.o. of working with regular MSM, the approach taken with the hearing-impaired and deaf MSM must be individualized!

We have also been able to establish an ongoing seminar program for the deaf and hearing-impaired men, which are conducted using sign language. Furthermore, consultations are being carried out using SMS text messaging, ICQ and email. In addition to the prevention activities themselves, we also conduct round table meetings with the participation of regular and deaf MSM. The meetings are a great way to bring these two groups together in order to dispel certain myths and stereotypes they may have about each other.

GAMES – AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH

We at LaSky make sure that our eventsand materials are not delivered as «teachings», and use every means at our disposal to motivate the members of our target groups toward safer sexual behavior. As part of this effort, we regularly use role-playing, club events, film screenings and mini-trainings in order to motivate participants to engage in safer sexual behavior.

ACHIEVEMENTS

1. Currently, the LaSky MSM Network is a unique MSM program network of 12 NGOs implementing HIV prevention activities targeting gays and MSM. LaSky activities include outreach work, peer-to-peer counseling, trainings on HIV and related health and social issues for MSM, telephone hotline, development of gay friendly medical services, informational materials production, development of internet based prevention programs, as well as advocacy of MSM needs.

2. Regional staff of the LaSky project has the knowledge and experience needed to implement HIV prevention programs among MSM.

3. Over 20,000 MSMs have been reached through outreach work since 2004. More than 2000 MSM have received services from medical specialists who have been trained to provide quality medical services to MSM.

4. The LaSky project uses Russian and international best practices. The POL model and Mpowerment program were implemented in Russia for the first time.

5. The LaSky brand is well known and popular among the target audience in the project regions, as well as beyond the project regions.

6. A unique HIV prevention program for deaf and hard of hearing MSM has been implemented in Moscow and Saint-Petersburg since 2005. More than 1000 deaf MSM have been reached with prevention activities.

7. The LaSky project collaborates with governmental organizations at the national and regional levels, international organizations and UN agencies. LaSky presents its work and achievements at international and national conferences and meetings.

8. Currently, LaSky is in the process of transitioning to a locally registered charitable organization, which will continue to receive technical support and funding through multiple channels, including PSI, SDI and directly as the newly registered NGO. The transition of the LaSky project to an independent organization contributes to the focus on capacity development of programs for gays and MSM, involving representatives of the community in the project planning, implementation, monitoring and performance evaluation.

MAIN AREAS OF PROJECT DEVELOPMENT IN NEED OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT

1. Further develop and strengthen the existing network of non-governmental organizations and grassroots groups in the Russian regions that are implementing programs to improve the health of gays and MSM, including programs to prevent HIV/AIDS infection, drug addiction and alcoholism, and other programs related to healthcare and healthy lifestyles.

2. Development and implementation of programs for human rights advocacy, which include promotion of tolerance toward gays and MSM.

3. Development and implementation of skills improvement programs for medical specialists. These programs aim to improve provider knowledge and skills related to sexual health and gender issues.

4. Development of psychological, medical and legal counseling.

5. Sociological surveys to study the extent of risk behavior and HIV and STI incidence among gays and MSM, including deaf gays and MSM. The survey results enable forecasts of the spread of these epidemics and inform programmatic decision making to prevent the spread of HIV and STIs among gays and MSM.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Andrey Beloglazov,

Project Director

Leningradsky Pr-t, h. 68, bld. 16
Moscow, Russia 125315

Phone: +7 (499) 157 56 70
Fax: +7 (499) 747 74 79

e-mail: beloglazov@psirussia.ru

www.lasky.ru

Samoilova Olga,
Manager

Leningradsky Pr-t, h. 68, bld. 16
Moscow, Russia 125315

Phone: +7 (499) 157 56 70
Fax: +7 (499) 747 74 79

e-mail: samoilova@psirussia.ru
www.lasky.ru

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