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Food Insecurity and Sexual Risk in an HIV Endemic Community in Uganda
- Source :
- AIDS and Behavior, AIDS and behavior, vol 15, iss 7
- Publication Year :
- 2010
- Publisher :
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2010.
-
Abstract
- Food insecurity has been linked to high-risk sexual behavior in sub-Saharan Africa, but there are limited data on these links among people living with HIV/AIDS, and on the mechanisms for how food insecurity predisposes individuals to risky sexual practices. We undertook a series of in-depth open-ended interviews with 41 individuals living with HIV/AIDS to understand the impact of food insecurity on sexual-risk behaviors. Participants were recruited from the Immune Suppression Clinic at the Mbarara University of Science and Technology in Mbarara, Uganda. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, translated, and coded following the strategy of grounded theory. Four major themes emerged from the interview data: the relationship between food insecurity and transactional sex for women; the impact of a husband's death from HIV on worsening food insecurity among women and children; the impact of food insecurity on control over condom use, and the relationship between food insecurity and staying in violent/abusive relationships. Food insecurity led to increased sexual vulnerability among women. Women were often compelled to engage in transactional sex or remain in violent or abusive relationships due to their reliance on men in their communities to provide food for themselves and their children. There is an urgent need to prioritize food security programs for women living with HIV/AIDS and address broader gender-based inequities that are propelling women to engage in risky sexual behaviors based on hunger. Such interventions will play an important role in improving the health and well-being of people living with HIV/AIDS, and preventing HIV transmission.
- Subjects :
- Male
Endemic Diseases
Hunger
Abusive relationship
HIV Infections
Human sexuality
Food Supply
Developmental psychology
law.invention
Condoms
0302 clinical medicine
5. Gender equality
Risk Factors
law
Uganda
030212 general & internal medicine
2. Zero hunger
education.field_of_study
Food security
music.instrument
digestive, oral, and skin physiology
Middle Aged
3. Good health
Infectious Diseases
Public Health and Health Services
HIV/AIDS
Female
Public Health
0305 other medical science
Psychology
Adult
Social Work
Social Psychology
Sexual Behavior
Population
Transactional sex
Violence
Interviews as Topic
Young Adult
03 medical and health sciences
Risk-Taking
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)
Condom
Environmental health
medicine
Humans
music
education
Sex work
Original Paper
030505 public health
Food insecurity
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Gender
medicine.disease
Sex Work
Socioeconomic Factors
Sexual-risk behavior
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 15733254 and 10907165
- Volume :
- 15
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- AIDS and Behavior
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....63f90d19284fbfe9fa954a6f85247307