Sexual behaviour and perceptions of risk

Abstract

Migration is an important process of change for rural populations in developing countries. Migration is a primary cause of behaviour change – by their very act of migrating, migrants are different from those who do not migrate. The focus of the current study is male rural-urban migration in Tanzania and its interaction with HIV risk. The analysis presents results from a comparison with individual-level analyses of two populations, one (composed of recent rural-urban migrants) in an urban area and one in a rural area. Detailed migration histories (n=96 rural-urban migrants), in-depth interviews (n=96 rural-urban migrants, n=51 rural residents) and focus group discussions (n=8) form the basis of the study. Three key research questions are addressed: Does the sexual behaviour of rural-urban migrants differ from rural residents? How does the sexual behaviour of migrants differ from that of rural residents? Do rural-urban migrants have higher levels of HIV knowledge than rural residents? The results are counter-intuitive: rural-urban migrants – both married and unmarried – are not having sex in town. The perception of “risky sex” – itself a complex construction involving both individual- and community-level factors – is being clearly defined by rural-urban migrants in this study. Essentially, risky sex equals sex in town, and by avoiding sex in town most urban-rural migrants perceive themselves to be making a rational and logical decision to prevent the risk of infection. Whilst rural-urban migrants are self-defining as not wanting to become a bridge population, borne out by their lack of sex in town, resident rural populations have already categorized returnee migrants as bridge populations, regardless of their behaviour.