Out Here Too: Rethinking HIV Prevention in the Country

Conversations for a Brave New World is produced by the Gender Network (feminist, gender and queer research and practice) at CSU. We bring global, national and local issues about gender to the Central West. Each month, we share knowledge, scholarship and research about gender from the diverse perspectives of experts and scholars.

What does HIV prevention look like when you’re young, queer, and living outside the city limits? In this episode of Conversations for a Brave New World, Associate Professor Sonja Maria speaks with Dr Brian Sengstock, who’s leading a $1.25 million NHMRC-funded project to improve access to PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) for young men in the country. They explore the barriers—stigma, distance, family visibility—and the promise of peer-led, mobile health interventions designed by and for the people who need them most. It’s a vital, honest conversation about agency, access, and what it really takes to build health equity—out here, too.