From 2015 to 2017, the LINKAGES project, UNDP, and the University of the West Indies collaborated with gay men and other men who have sex with men, female sex workers, and transgender women in El Salvador, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, and Barbados to conduct participatory research on gender-based violence (GBV) and HIV. Key population members were trained as data collectors and conducted 278 structured interviews with peers. This success story, which is also available in French and Spanish, highlights study findings and describes how LINKAGES, UNDP, and local partners have used the research to address GBV within HIV service delivery policies and programming.

Members of key populations experience disproportionate burdens of both HIV and violence. These epidemics are linked—violence increases HIV vulnerability and poses a barrier to HIV testing, disclosure and adherence to antiretroviral therapy. Addressing both public health challenges simultaneously is an important strategy for epidemic control and the protection of human rights. The LINKAGES project developed a programmatic guide and three training manuals that support the integration of violence prevention and response activities and HIV prevention, care and treatment services in key population programs. The guide contains principles, step-by-step instruction, and sample templates and tools. 

This report presents high-quality evidence on the nature of violence experienced by female sex workers, men who have sex with men, and transgender women in Haiti and proposes recommendations to inform HIV service delivery policies and programming by making it more responsive to the needs of key population victims of violence. It is one in a series of country reports on violence, key populations, and HIV in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Female sex workers, men who have sex with men, and transgender women—collectively referred to as key populations—are disproportionately affected by gender-based violence and HIV, yet little is known about the violence they face, its gender-based origins, and responses to gender-based violence. The purpose of this study was to understand the nature and consequences of gender-based violence experienced, to inform HIV policies and programming and to help protect key populations’ human rights.