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88 CHAPTER 4 ■ Love, Sex, and HIV/AIDS

campaign strategies that engage young women in critical reflections about
life choices, health, and sexuality. Skills training, role models, and support
from peers are important components of both initiatives.
Both programs are strongly research based. Program H’s conceptual frame-
work began with a “mapping” of masculinity to understand how men and
women view what it means to be male. Men who were inclined to be more
gender-equitable in their attitudes provided insights into the best ways to
change the prevailing views about manhood. Likewise, Program M was built
on research that explored women’s concepts of empowerment and the key fac-
tors that contribute to their feelings of autonomy and self-worth.
Instituto Promundo, a Brazilian NGO that includes among its partners
Salud y Género, a Mexico-based NGO, designed the programs. Promundo’s
mission is to “contribute to social equity through the testing and implemen-
tation of social technologies that promote the holistic development of children
and youth . . . utilizing their participation throughout the process” (Instituto
Promundo, 2008a). Salud y Género, with a respected track record of gender
equity research and initiatives, has been the driving force behind Progra-
mas Hombres and Mujeres in Mexico (Salud y Género, 2008; Esplen, 2006,
pp. 47–48).
Their efforts are reinforced by international initiatives that aim to erase be-
havior change barriers and thereby reduce HIV/AIDS infections. For example,
USAID, the largest bilateral HIV/AIDS donor to Mexico, integrates gender is-
sues into HIV prevention programs by recommending policy changes and
training women in advocacy and leadership roles. USAID also focuses on up-
stream audiences to reduce HIV/AIDS stigma and discrimination among
healthcare providers and decision makers in the legal environment and the mass
media (USAID, 2005).
Likewise, Population Services International, the first international organ-
ization to use social marketing to combat AIDS, uses targeted behavior change
communications (BCC) in Mexico to focus on gender equity and prevention
messages. An innovative example of PSI’s initiatives is a campaign called
Menos Etiquetas, which relies heavily on “peer educators” but reinforces that
strategy with BTL (below-the-line) techniques such as blogs, an array of pro-
motional materials in places frequented by youths, and creative Bluetooth vi-
ral marketing (O. Le Touze, PSI Mexico, personal communication, April 7,
2008).
Programs H and M helped lay the groundwork for this mosaic of social
change initiatives. In less than a decade, initiatives targeting Mexican youth have
documented successes in motivating lifestyle changes that promise more gender-
equitable behaviors and a reduced prevalence of HIV/AIDS.