Dr Allanise Cloete
I am an anthropologist and approach research using a social justice paradigm that aims to challenge us to look at the way research is predominantly conducted, on communities and not often with or led by communities. I am employed as a senior research specialist in the Identity and Belonging unit at the Human and Social Capabilities division of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC). I have worked in my research programme to advance research with key populations since 2004. My scientific contributions have been multifaceted including, co-authoring 31 peer reviewed articles, 3 chapters in peer reviewed books, 5 in non-peer reviewed publications and 11 client reports. I have managed ground-breaking HIV surveillance studies with key populations in South Africa, Ghana and Lesotho. My particular contribution is in the area of HIV surveillance amongst key populations, including gay and bisexual men and transgender women.
The Botshelo Ba Trans Study was the firstever study of its kind in Southern Africa to document the burden of HIV suffered by transgender women in South Africa. The study also explored qualitatively how transgender women actually live their lives thus providing a depth understanding of the HIV risks of transgender women, and more generally to threats including violence, stigma and substance use. The participatory approach incorporated by myself raised this study above many others conducted in the field. I actively went out and worked with transgender women, drawing representatives into the research team, employing members of the community and finally involving these team members in the writing of the academic papers. My doctoral work looked at the performance of local same sex cultures and explored questions of citizenship and belonging in the `coloured? townships of Cape Town. I was awarded my PhD in Anthropology at the University of the Western Cape, in August 2018
Ending suicide among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) young people
Ending suicide among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) young people, and it carries out this mission through provid....
IAS Stakeholder Engagement and Research Dissemination Event
The HSRC shall organize and facilitate the stakeholder and research dissemination event in a diligent and professional manner in accordance with best ....
Stigma Index
To measure the level of stigma and discrimination experienced by PLHIV and KVPs in 12 districts across the province of Gauteng, the Western Cape, Nort....
Development of a policy brief for transgender women in HIV/STI and TB.
The purpose of the project is to develop a policy brief for transgender women in living or affected by HIV/STI and TB in South Africa.....
Leaving no one behind during Covid-19: relief workers' concern for migrants, refugees and asylum seekers
In South Africa, migrants, asylum seekers and refugees have disproportionate access to socioeconomic resources and healthcare services. Findings of qu....
You know most of the time they do sex work, transgender women, because of issues like acceptance
....
"Give what the people want": a situational analysis of condom distribution and a feasibility study of user-friendly condoms in Cape Town, South Africa
Condom use has remained low in South Africa despite efforts by the government to make condoms accessible to all. We assessed condom availability, proc....
HIV risk profile at ward level in the Msunduzi sub district, KwaZulu-Natal: profile reflect HIV risks within selected hotspot for Pata clinic area
The HIV Risk profile presents secondary (public and non-public) data on HIV epidemic together with associated risk factors in the Msunduzi sub distric....
HIV risk profile at ward level in the Richmond sub district, KwaZulu-Natal: profile reflect HIV risks within selected hotspot - Ndaleni clinic area
The HIV Risk profile presents secondary (public and non-public) data on HIV epidemic together with associated risk factors in the Richmond sub distric....
HIV risk profile in the Mooi Mpofana sub district, at ward level KwaZulu-Natal: the profile reflects HIV risks within selected hotspot - Mooi River clinic area
The HIV Risk profile presents secondary (public and non-public) data on HIV epidemic together with associated risk factors in the Mooi Mpofana sub dis....
HIV risk profile at ward level in the uMshwathi sub district, uMgungundlovu, KwaZulu-Natal:the profile reflects HIV risks within selected hotspot - the Gcumisa clinic area
The HIV Risk profile presents secondary (public and non-public) data on HIV epidemic together with associated risk factors in the Msunduzi sub distric....
Programmatic mapping and size estimation study of key populations in South Africa: sex workers (male and female), men who have sex with men, persons who inject drugs and transgender people
Sex workers (SWs), men who have sex with men (MSM), transgender (TG) people and persons who inject drugs (PWIDs) are referred to as key populations. K....
The 2014 stigma index survey: experiences of people with HIV
The Stigma Index measures the level of stigma and discrimination experienced by People living with HIV (PLHIV), and is a survey undertaken by nearly 5....
The people: living with HIV stigma index: South Africa 2014: summary report
SANAC has acknowledged that stigma and discrimination of PLHIV needs to be addressed. SANAC noted that although there has been tremendous progress mad....
'We keep her status to ourselves': experiences of stigma and discrimination among HIV-discordant couples in South Africa, Tanzania and Ukraine
In HIV-discordant relationships, the HIV-negative partner also carries the burden of a stigmatised disease. For this reason, couples often hide their ....
Improving the counselling skills of lay counsellors in antiretroviral adherence settings: a cluster randomised controlled trial in the Western Cape, South Africa
Little research has investigated interventions to improve the delivery of counselling in health care settings. We determined the impact of training an....
The South African Marang men's project
To date, there is a dearth of surveillance data on the prevalence of HIV and associated risk behaviours among men who have sex with men (MSM) in South....
Exploring custom-fitted male condoms as a sexual health intervention in Cape Town, South Africa
Between June and August of 2013, graduate students from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia conducted a mixed methods study in Cape Town, South Afric....
Aids: living between the lines
HIV feeds on discrimination, writes Pierre Brouard, Dawie Nel and Allanise Cloete. In the Western Cape, HIV infection was first characterised by male....
Lay counselors' ability to deliver counseling for behavior change
Options for Health is an evidence-based sexual risk reduction intervention based on Motivational Interviewing (MI). Thirty-nine antiretroviral adheren....
Layered stigma and HIV/AIDS: experiences of men who have sex with men (MSM) in South Africa
This chapter briefly discuss same-sex behaviour and sexual identities in southern Africa in particular. Research findings from a qualitative study of....
From research to practice: lay adherence counsellors' fidellity to an evidence-based intervention for promoting adherence to antiretroviral treatment in the Western Cape, South Africa
In the Western Cape, lay counsellors are tasked with supporting antiretroviral (ARV) adherence in public healthcare clinics. Thirty-nine counsellors i....
"It's important to take your medication everyday okay?": an evaluation of counselling by lay counsellors for ARV adherence support in the Western Cape, South Africa
There is growing interest in standard care programmes for antiretroviral (ARV) adherence support. In South Africa, individual counselling following AR....
"We women are women with a different manner": sexual health of WSW in four Western Cape communities
This research was initiated by Triangle Project and was funded by a grant from Schorer as part of the organisation's ongoing work to promote the sexua....
'It [HIV] is part of the relationship': exploring communication among HIV serodiscordant couples in South Africa and Tanzania
In many sub-Saharan African countries, a high proportion of people living with HIV are in long-term serodiscordant relationships. This paper explores ....
Pride and prejudice: gay men who are HIV-positive fear 'double discrimination'
South Africa's Constitutional protections against discrimination for sexual orientation afford countless opportunities to bring men who have sex with ....
Behaviour change counselling for ARV adherence support within primary health care facilities in the Western Cape, South Africa
Health care systems have been described as ideal settings for behaviour change counselling interventions. There is little research evaluating the feas....
You became afraid to tell them that you are gay: health service utilization by men who have sex with men in South African cities
We describe the utilization of health services by men who have sex with men (MSM) in South African cities, their perceptions of available health servi....
HIV prevalence and risk practices among men who have sex with men in two South African cities
Background: In South Africa, information on HIV among men who have sex with men (MSM) is limited, and HIV prevention programs for men MSM are not wide....
Sexual relations and childbearing decisions of HIV-discordant couples: an exploratory study in South Africa and Tanzania
This article reports on the influence of HIV on sexual relations and childbearing decisions of 36 HIV-discordant couples, 26 in South Africa and 10 in....
Are HIV positive women who have sex with women (WSW) an unrecognized and neglected HIV risk group in South Africa?
South Africa is home to the largest population of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). Of this population gender non-conforming women like women who h....
Being straight and being gay: identity or multiple desire: the case of South Africa
Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. In December 2006, South Africa became the fifth country in the world and th....
Challenges faced by people living with HIV/AIDS in Cape Town, South Africa: issues for group risk reduction interventions
This paper presents the findings of an exploratory study to investigate the challenges faced by people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in communities in....
Options for health: Western Cape: preliminary findings on the feasibility of incorporating options in to routine adherence counselling practice
In response to a recent finding that 44.7% of people initiating ARV treatment in public health clinics in Cape Town had had unprotected sex at last se....
The feasibility of implementing a sexual risk reduction intervention in routine clinical practice at an ARV clinic in Cape Town: a case study
This case study with one lay adherence counsellor assessed the implementation of Options for Health, a sexual risk-reduction intervention based on Mot....
Four-country report on formative research into the development of a HIV behavioural risk reduction intervention for PLWHA: Botswana, Lesotho, South Africa and Swaziland
This research project was part of a multi-country study which was conducted in eight sub-Saharan African countries including four in the Southern Afri....
The sociocultural aspects of HIV/AIDS in South Africa
This chapter focuses on some sociocultural aspects of life within the majority black African population of South Africa, most of whom speak languages ....
Measuring AIDS stigmas in people living with HIV/AIDS: the internalized AIDS-related stigma scale
....
"If you talk about a window period of two weeks, it is worse": HIV testing among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Johannesburg and Durban, South Africa
Background: The Johannesburg/eThekwini Men's Study (JEMS) was conducted to provide information on HIV among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Johanne....
"You become afraid to tell them that you are gay": availability and utilisation of health services by men who have sex with men (MSM) in the Johannesburg/eThekwini men's study
Background: The Johannesburg/eThekwini Men's Study (JEMS) was conducted to provide information on HIV among men who have sex with men (MSM) in two Sou....
Integrated gender-based violence and HIV risk reduction intervention for South African men: results of a quasi-experimental field trial
South Africa is in the midst of one of the world's most devastating HIV/AIDS epidemics and there is a well-documented association between violence aga....
Drug use and HIV risk behaviour in three urban South African communities
The present study assesses drug usage and HIV risk using a modified version of the Drug Abuse Screening Test, Short Form (DAST-10) for substances othe....
The Johannesburg/eThewkini Men's Study (JEMS): a rapid assessment of the HIV epidemic among men who have sex with men (MSM) in South Africa: technical report
Because of the highly confidential status of this report no abstract is available.....
Exploring coping strategies and life choices made by HIV-discordant couples in long-term relationships: insights from South Africa, Tanzania and the Ukraine: full report
Globally, HIV prevention and treatment programmes have tended to focus on individuals and HIV prevention programmes have focused mostly on HIV-negativ....
Measuring AIDS stigmas in people living with HIV/AIDS: the internalized AIDS-related stigma scale
AIDS stigmas create significant barriers to HIV prevention, testing, and care and can become internalized by people living with HIV/AIDS. We developed....
HIV/AIDS risk reduction and domestic violence prevention intervention for South African men
South Africa has among the worst HIV/AIDS epidemics in the world, and HIV/AIDS is closely associated with adversarial attitudes toward women and with ....
High rates of unprotected sex occurring among HIV-positive individuals in a daily diary study in South Africa: the role of alcohol use
Objectives: The objectives of this study were to assess the prevalence of unprotected sex and to examine the association between alcohol consumption ....
Intervening to reduce gender-based violence does not enhance HIV risk reduction outcomes for South African men: results of a quasi-experimental field trial
Background: There is a well documented association between violence against women and HIV transmission. Interventions that integrate HIV prevention wi....
Disclosure decisions and HIV positive men who have sex with men (MSM) in Cape Town, South Africa
Objectives: Secrecy and concealment of either sexual orientation or HIV positive status characterizes many gay relationships in the context of homosex....
Stigma and discrimination experiences of HIV-positive men who have sex with men in Cape Town, South Africa
Since the primary mode of HIV transmission in sub-Saharan Africa is heterosexual, research focusing on the sexual behaviour of men who have sex with m....
Gender, power and resistance to change among two communities in the Western Cape, South Africa
This study investigates how women and men in the Western Cape, South Africa, construct their gender identities and roles. As part of the development ....
Alcohol use in three different inner cities in South Africa: AUDIT-C and CAGE
The aim of this study was to describe the frequency of risky drinking among a general urban population survey in South Africa with the help of Alcohol....
Internalized stigma, discrimination, and depression among men and women living with HIV/AIDS in Cape Town, South Africa
AIDS stigmas interfere with HIV prevention, diagnosis, and treatment and can become internalized by people living with HIV/AIDS. However, the effects ....
Disclosure of HIV status to sex partners and sexual risk behaviours amongh HIV-positive men and women, Cape Town, South Africa
The HIV epidemic continues to amplify in southern Africa and there is a growing need for HIV prevention interventions among people who have tested HIV....
Social constructions of gender roles, gender-based violence and HIV/AIDS in two communities of the Western Cape, South Africa
The links between gender roles, gender-based violence and HIV/aids risks are complex and culturally specific. In this qualitative study we investigat....
Sexual assault, sexual risks and gender attitudes in a community sample of South African men
Sexual assault against women and HIV infection are both prevalent and related social problems in South Africa. The current study examined hostile att....