Men's Sexual Behavior and Women's Vulnerability to HIV in Urban North India

Shelah S. Bloom, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Kaushalendra K. Singh, Banaras Hindu University
Sunita Singh, Banaras Hindu University
Chirayath Suchindran, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Women in India are vulnerable to HIV due to their social status. Patterns of male out-of-marriage sexual behavior and its relationship to women's vulnerability remains poorly documented. Using qualitative methods, men in urban areas of North India were interviewed to explore this relationship. Socio-economic status varied considerably. Nearly all men had premarital sex, and most had multiple partners. Levels of perceived risk for HIV were associated with education. Despite experiencing sexually transmitted infections (STIs), men with low education felt fairly safe. About one third of men felt that wives and sex workers did not have the right to refuse sex or demand condom use. Others felt that women would never make such demands. Women in North India are clearly dependent on men to protect them from STIs and HIV. Men in this sample did little to protect the women with whom they had sex, whether wives or sex workers.