Abstract
Chemsex refers to a practice which involves the use of substances to initiate, enhance, and prolong sexual intercourse. Although many substances are historically used to influence sexual practices, the literature documented methamphetamine as the most commonly used substance in chemsex globally. This book chapter aims to delineate the underlying contexts, bio-behavioral implications, and potential risk mitigation strategies for the use of methamphetamine among gender and sexually diverse people. Evidence revealed several underlying contexts which precipitated chemsex such as curiosity, the desire for assimilating into social groups, coping with emotional distress, and enhancing their sexual performance. Moreover, some behavioral changes emerged from chemsex such as multiple sex partners, engagement in transactional sex, coerced sex, and changes in sexual relationships and dynamics. This chapter also revealed some existing risk reduction strategies for mitigating the harms associated with chemsex.
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Abbreviations
- APCOM:
-
Asia Pacific Coalition on Male Sexual Health
- ATS:
-
Amphetamine-type stimulants
- BCC:
-
Behavior change communication
- BDSM:
-
Bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, sadism/masochism
- DIC:
-
Drop-in center
- HIV:
-
Human immunodeficiency virus
- MSM:
-
Men who have sex with men
- MSW:
-
Male sex worker
- PWID:
-
People who inject drugs
- PWUD:
-
People who use drugs
- STI:
-
Sexually transmitted infections
- TG:
-
Transgender (women)
- UNODC:
-
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
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Khan, S.I., Irfan, S.D., Khan, M.N.M. (2022). Methamphetamine Use and Chemsex: An Emerging Threat for Gender and Sexually Diverse People. In: Patel, V.B., Preedy, V.R. (eds) Handbook of Substance Misuse and Addictions. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92392-1_146
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