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Indonesia's Crackdown On Gays Is Fueling Its HIV Epidemic

“It’s very hard to get people to come to the clinic. Now it’s even harder to reach them."

Since 2011, the percent of HIV-positive Indonesian men who were having sex with men rose from six to 26, and as many think it's the government's fault.

Following a raid in May of this year, targeting gay men in Surabaya, Indonesia’s second largest city, many gay men are too frightened to get tested for HIV, fearing they will be outed.

Juni Kriswanto/AFP/Getty Images

This photo taken on April 30, 2017 shows Indonesian police parading a group of men arrested for allegedly holding a "gay party" in Surabaya, the second biggest city in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country.Officers busted 14 men holding the party in two hotel rooms in Surabaya, around midnight on April 29. / AFP PHOTO / JUNI KRISWANTO (Photo credit should read JUNI KRISWANTO/AFP/Getty Images)

“People are scared,” says Fajar Prabowo, programme officer at Yayasan Suwitno, a group that operates clinics and mobile units that provide HIV testing. “It’s very hard to get people to come to the clinic. Now it’s even harder to reach them."

According to the South China Morning Post, Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu "likened the spread of tolerance toward homosexuals to a proxy war waged by the West," resulting in police raids like the one earlier this year.

Although homosexuality is technically not a crime in most of Indonesia, the semi-autonomous northern province of Aceh, which has been governed by Sharia law since 2001, adopted a measure in 2015 that punishes same-sex relations with up to 100 lashes. The lashings, which are carried out by hooded officers using a rattan cane, are incredibly painful and often leave permanent scars.

Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP/Getty Images

TOPSHOT - One of two Indonesian men is publicly caned for having sex, in a first for the Muslim-majority country where there are concerns over mounting hostility towards the small gay community, in Banda Aceh on May 23, 2017.The pair, aged 20 and 23, were found guilty of having broken sharia rules in conservative Aceh province -- the only part of Indonesia that implements Islamic law -- and sentenced to 85 strokes of the cane each. / AFP PHOTO / CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN (Photo credit should read CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN/AFP/Getty Images)

Now HIV testing and treatment has gone underground—even Jakarta's main clinic for HIV testing only known "by word of mouth" and has no website to offer information.

“We like to keep [the clinic] known for only those who need it, no matter their sexual orientation,” said the clinic’s chief doctor, who remained anonymous.

“Sensitivity is the frontline of our campaign,” said Rena Janamnuaysook, the program coordinator of the Thai Red Cross Aids Research Centre. “We are normalising HIV/Aids.”

BANDA ACEH, INDONESIA - MAY 23: Acehnese people attend public caning for violations against Sharia law at Syuhada mosque on May 23, 2017 in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. The two young gay men, aged 20 and 23, were caned 85 times each in the Indonesian province of Aceh during a public ceremony after being caught having sex last week. It was the first time gay men have been caned under Sharia law as gay sex is not illegal in most of Indonesia except for Aceh, which is the only province which exercises Islamic law. The punishment came a day after the police arrested 141 men at a sauna in the capital Jakarta on Monday due to suspicion of having a gay sex party, the latest crackdown on homosexuality in the country. (Photo by Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

The percentage of HIV-positive men has gone up 20 percent in six years, but in larger cities like Jakarta and Bali the numbers are 36 percent. Bangkok also saw a rise from 21 percent in 2000 to now close to 30 percent. By 2020 half of new HIV infections in Southeast Asia will be among men who have sex with other men.

“Gay men are increasingly vilified and oppressed,” said Ryan Figueiredo, the deputy director of Apcom, a group that raises awareness of HIV and AIDS in Indonesia. “It’s disturbing that the authorities are denigrating the very community they need to be working with to address this epidemic.”

ADEK BERRY/AFP/Getty Images

A member of Hizbuth Tahrir Indonesia attends a protest against sexual deviant acts which they believe to be acts such as homosexuality, bisexuality, loose sexual morals, and transgender, in Jakarta on December 1, 2010. The UN said on November 23 that the number of new cases of HIV/AIDS has dropped by about one-fifth over the past decade but millions of people are still missing out on major progress in prevention and treatment. About 33.3 million people worldwide were living with the HIV virus that causes AIDS at the end of last year -- about 100,000 less than in 2008. (Banner reads, "HIV/AIDS come from Homosex, Adultery, Bisex, Transgender). AFP PHOTO / ADEK BERRY (Photo credit should read ADEK BERRY/AFP/Getty Images)

In 2015 the Indonesian health ministry debuted a new campaign meant to debunk myths about the spread of HIV, but did the exact opposite with hundreds of posters that claimed HIV can be transmitted through mosquito bites, swimming, saliva, food, and sneezing.

The posters, plastered on commuter trains throughout Jakarta, were removed following public outcry.

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