The Sophie Lucyk Virtual Library is the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work’s new and powerful way to educate people around the world, as well as a fitting memorial to honour alumna and social worker Sophie Lucyk’s passionate desire to help all people receive an education. The Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work has made knowledge mobilization one of its strategic directions. The Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work is renowned internationally for is scholarship and research championing social justice and social welfare for society’s most vulnerable.

What started as a collection of cyber-related social work research has now, through the generous gift from Sophie Lycek’s estate, been expanded and now offers online access to all of the research activities and products generated by our members of faculty.

You can find content by name of the researcher, by subject, by date or by title.

 

Research Highlight

 

New study by FIFSW researcher Carmen Logie on how stigma and social exclusion increase HIV risks among LGBT persons in the Caribbean.

The Caribbean has the highest rate of reported new HIV cases in the Americas. HIV disproportionately affects transgender women and gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men in the global pandemic. Social exclusion and stigma targeting LGBT people increase HIV vulnerability by reducing access to HIV prevention and care, increasing exposure to violence, and limiting employment and education opportunities. Social exclusion of LGBT people leads to a greater likelihood of being involved in sex work, which carries its own risks of exposure to violence and HIV. That’s why it is particularly important to understand connections between stigma and HIV risks in contexts where homosexuality is criminalized, such as Jamaica.

In Jamaica, the general population HIV rate is 1.7%, but among men who have sex with men, and transgender women, reports show HIV prevalence of 25-30%, which is the highest in the Caribbean.

New studies led by Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work researcher Dr. Carmen Logie look at the stigma faced by LGBT people in Jamaica and the implications for their health, particularly their HIV risks. The studies focus on men who have sex with men and on transgender women, two of the most vulnerable groups in this population, and examines at role of stigma in the HIV pandemic in the Caribbean. The study was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and included several local partners in Jamaica.