Gender has been a key category of enquiry into the AIDS pandemic for many years. Today, every major international authority involved in the response to AIDS recognises that a gendered approach is essential to success. Programmes to reduce gender inequalities are considered to be crucial to HIV prevention. So, there is a broad consensus that gender matters, but is it so clear that masculinity matters?

The topic of this chapter is the constructions of masculinity which affect the perpetuation of gender-based violence and the spread of HIV, in particular in Papua New Guinea.

This is a chapter in the book edited by Vicki Luker and Sinclair Dinner (2010), ‘Civic Insecurity: Law, Order and HIV in Papua New Guinea’, ANU Press.