Photos by young people who are members of key groups affected by HIV, including sex workers, MSMs (men who have sex with men), transgender young people and gay young people of both sexes. HIV is a taboo subject in Myanmar (formerly Burma) and this project will both help reduce stigma, and begin the slow process of normalising discussion of HIV risks and treatment to break down the barriers that put so many young people at unnecessary risk.

1. Mysterious Youth Voices
Myanmar
Photos by members of key groups
affected by HIV
“Prevention” By AD
© AD 2014 / International HIV/AIDS Alliance / PhotoVoice

3. You can be healthy, wealthy and happy –
and living with HIV.
MND

5. Morning Wash
This transgender lady runs a beauty parlour in Yangon.
She lives with her partner and has been with him for
5 years.
Arkar

7. These clients of her beauty parlour are getting dressed
up for their graduation.
Arkar

9. Although she is not HIV Positive, some people may assume
she is because they think transgender people are always
spreading the disease. No one can tell who is HIV Positive
and who is not – they should not assume.
Arkar

11. People have so many misconceptions about key groups. I
wish I could hand them some glasses that could help
them to see clearly.
Htin Ka Ra (Economics)

13. Young people always regret mistakes, it’s like a shadow.
Don’t regret all the time, you are a young person,
so move on.
Baby C

15. Police can use carrying condoms as an excuse to arrest or
harass sex workers, so sex workers hide condoms in their
bra.
Despite harassment sex workers take responsibility by
carrying condoms to avoid pregnancy and STIs.
MND

17. When clients refuse to use condoms, sex workers will try
and convince them. Sometimes secretly they put condoms
on a client with their mouth.
MND

19. This is a male sex worker, hanging out in a place where
MSMs [men who have sex with men] gather at night to
meet. He became HIV Positive 5 years ago but has not yet
started treatment. At the moment he is healthy but he
has not been retested for over a year. He is Christian and
prefers to trust in God to protect him. He is worried that if
he goes to access services his clients may find out and
they will no longer go to him. He relies on sex work for
money for his future.
He is careful to always carry condoms so as not to spread
the disease, but if his status became public he worries
that he might lose his livelihood.
Arkar

21. Some people who become ill and think they may have
become HIV Positive do not go to doctors, but instead
visit traditional healers, because they are afraid of stigma
if their status becomes known. They need proper
treatment if they are living with HIV, or they will waste
their life.
A Lay

23. Life-saving ART
The pills at the front are daily medicines, such as vitamins,
which are easy to get hold of. The focus is on the HIV
medication in the distance, which is out of reach for too
many.
AD

25. The life of someone living with HIV is important – don’t
let it burn away and be taken by the wind because of lack
of treatment.
AD

27. I am a transgender woman, my family and society
always discriminate against me, but I don’t allow
it to stop me continuing with my life and
socialising with friends.
Char Coal

29. The volunteer is a sex worker. She works late nights and
provides peer support in the day, so after lunch she is able
to rest at the drop-in centre.
Char Coal

31. This map in our outreach centre shows known MSM
hotspots where we go to hand out condoms and speak
about prevention of HIV.
Char Coal

33. Everyone is going around and we don’t know who and how
many people are HIV positive. You could be one of them.
Mone Mann Htet

35. My brother owns a massage parlour and clients are often
abusive. Sometimes they use the sex worker’s services
but then run away without paying, and at other times
they may request oral sex and if the sex worker refuses
they get angry and use violence. Sex workers are
vulnerable to this kind of abuse because they will not go
to the police.
Naing Naing

37. Before going to the pagoda festival with friends
she is applying makeup in a bar while drinking.
She may be vulnerable to being targeted by
homophobic men while in public like this.
Naing Naing

39. After dark MSMs gather to meet in selected areas where
they will not be so visible and subject to insults and
aggression. They have to be careful of police, because
after dark anyone can be arrested on suspicion of
breaking the law, and the police will target MSMs and
transgender people and sometimes threaten them with
section 377 of the penal code, which says that sexual acts
‘against the natural order’ are illegal. Here the sexuality of
some of the men is very hidden, which will help them
avoid police harassment, but they have condoms with
them in plain sight in the basket of the bike, and are
clearly happy with who they are.
Zayar

41. If you store condoms like this they can become weakened
by the sun. Keep yours in a cool dark place and ensure
when you buy them they have been stored properly.
A Lay

43. Prevention vs Treatment
If you use condoms to protect yourself you can avoid a
lifetime of treatment.
MND

45. Sex workers are not allowed to hang their clothes and
underwear outside the massage parlour to dry. This is
because the owner is worried about people seeing that
many girls are staying there. The clothes are not washed
and dried properly and can irritate the girls’ skin.
MND

47. Brooms are usually kept out of sight except when they are
wanted to serve their purpose. This photo shows how
they can be beautiful if they are given the chance to be
on show. It is the same for sex workers who people use
when it suits them, but prefer to be hidden from public
sight.
Htin Ka Ra (Economics)

49. Don’t thoughtlessly break someone’s home. This may
look creepy because it is different from your home, but
same sex couples, like spiders, take lots of time to build
their home.
Sue Chol

51. Pagoda, Yangon
Char Coal

53. Left Right Wrong
He doesn't know how to use the slippers so they are
useless to him. As with all things there is a correct way to
use condoms – if you do not follow the rules to store
them, use them correctly they will not do their important
job of protecting you.
A Lay

55. The life of an MSM is free and full of joy like others they need understanding and respect.
Char Coal

57. The Independence Monument in Yangon represents
freedom, but lesbian couples can’t get married. So
they’re holding the rings and asking for marriage – we
don’t have the freedom or equal rights.
Sue Chol

59. Without access to ART treatment the life of an HIV
Positive person can deteriorate like this leaf.
AD

61. Living on the Wire
People living with HIV can feel like they are living apart
from the rest of society. Young people are often rejected
by their families and have nowhere to live, but even those
that do have a home can feel isolated.
Htin Ka Ra (Economics)