Abstract Book of the 6th International Conference on Gender Studies and Sexuality
Year: 2025
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The Revivalist Churches Face the Challenge of Managing of HIV-AIDS Among Sexual and Gender Minorities in Cameroon – the Case of The Health and Rights for All Program
Jean Claude Enyegue Belinga
ABSTRACT:
In its relations with society, the Church sees itself simultaneously as a public space of proximity at the service of society, as a place of welcome, exchange, assistance and treatment of all suffering, whether spiritual, social or physical. And, above all, as a place where energies coagulate and solidarity is fostered. Whatever its apprehensions, the Church is first and foremost a human institution. In under-resourced societies such as those in sub-Saharan Africa, “anthropological impoverishment” and capitalism have led to a certain dehumanization of the Church. These are the places where ideologies and practices discriminate against and stigmatize marginalized and vulnerable populations, such as sexual and gender minorities. This, in turn, exacerbates psychological, psycho-physiological, moral and spiritual traumas of all kinds. In a context where HIV-AIDS affects 24.7% of this population, compared to 2.7% in the general population, it seems urgent to question the role of all players, and above all that of the revivalist churches, in achieving the UNAIDS 95 targets by 2030. This raises the following questions: What are the ideological foundations of the revivalist churches? What is the place of morality and ethics in these churches? And what perceptions do the leaders of these churches have of this community? This article presents the results of socio-anthropological research into the experiences of HIV-positive sexual and gender minorities in Cameroon. The research is both analytical and descriptive, and has been conducted over the last three years. It combines repeated biographical interviews, life stories, semi-structured interviews, documentary review and direct observation. To analyze the data, we used content analysis, strategic analysis and moral sociology.As the subject involves revivalist churches, everything connected with them is of primary importance for this study: their basic book, doctrines, dogmas, rites, etc. This also applies to the question of sexual and gender minorities in this religious field. This also applies to the question of sexual and gender minorities in this religious field. Consequently, it is interesting to learn about the mechanisms of action of the revivalist churches, as well as today’s socio-cultural aspects, such as the struggle to ensure that sexual and gender minorities living with HIV benefit from all kinds of support from the revivalist churches, without suffering any discrimination or stigmatization. This study highlights the ambiguous role of revivalist churches in the social inclusion of MSG, their therapeutic itineraries and their compliance.
The hostile environment in which sexual and gender minorities live as a result of article 347-1, leads them to live underground. This makes it difficult to achieve the objectives of programs and projects to combat HIV among MSG. UNAIDS’ 95-95-95 target for 2030 is utopian in such an environment, without the effective support of revivalist churches, which have a significant social impact on the therapeutic itineraries of MSG, and on their inclusion in society.
Keywords: revival churches, a factor of monetization and diversion of populations in the fight against hiv in Cameroon