Risk Factors for Sexually Transmitted Diseases and HIV in a Society with High AIDS Awareness and Prevalence: An Analysis of Zimbabwe

Amson Sibanda, University of Pennsylvania

This study examines if AIDS awareness and knowledge of ways to prevent it are sufficient to bring about modifications in behavior among sexually active women in Zimbabwe. Using data from the 1999 ZDHS, I examine the correlates of the desire to avoid risky behaviors among women such as having sex with promiscuous or STD-infected husbands and having sex during the postpartum period. I also examine the correlates of condom use and STDs. Multivariate results show that women who are less likely to think that a woman is justified in refusing sex with an STD-infected or promiscuous husband or in the period following a birth are also the same women who are less likely to use condoms. These women are also more likely to contract STDs. These results suggest that in the absence of some major changes in social norms, the expectation that women will routinely refuse sex with men when confronted with enhanced vulnerability to STD/HIV infection is probably unrealistic even if greater awareness of these diseases is present.