Sexual Coercion is Associated with Elevated Risks for Illicit Drug Use and Sexually Transmitted Infection in Men who have Sex Men Clay Porter M.P.H. ; Cherell Rivers, MPH; Katharine Hawks, MPH; Sophia Wang, M.S., Nicole Holt, Dr. P.H.; Jiangtao Luo, Ph.D. and Hongyun Fu, Ph.D. Introduction • Gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (MSM) face Syndemic health disparities associated with their sexual identities, including experiences of sexual coercion and victimization, higher rates of illicit drug use and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). • Syndemic theory (Singer, 1996) is used to explain the concentration of multiple epidemics in certain populations due to harmful social conditions such that they mutually reinforce each other and synergistically amplify the burden of disease. • Existing literature on the prevalence and correlates of sexual coercion, substance abuse a...
Writings in Anthropology & Public Health