Abstract
HIV research among internal migrants in China has not fully explored the contexts and perceptions of “risk”. In 2011, urban markets in Liuzhou, China were mapped, and sixty male vendors, age 22–56, were selected for in-depth interviews on migration, social and family life, and perceptions and practices of sexual risk behavior. Participants were evenly divided among higher income shop and small stall vendors. All men were sexually active. Only the shop vendors reported non-marital sexual partners, including concurrent partners (n = 15), commercial partners (n = 10), and other sexual relationships (n = 11). Shop vendors engaged in networking activities that facilitated commercial and non-commercial high-risk sex. Perceptions of HIV risk from commercial sex led some men to doubt the protective ability of condoms and rely on local (unproven) self-protection techniques. Networking activities played a role in high-risk sex and shaping migrants’ risk perceptions and health practices. The networks created through these processes could also be used to facilitate health promotion activities.
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Acknowledgments
This research was awarded by “Partnership for Social Science Research on HIV/AIDS in China”, which was funded by NIH Grant #R24 HD056670, and supported by the UNC Center for AIDS research (NIH Grant # P30 AI50410). Kathryn E. Muessig is supported by an NIH institutional training grant (5T32AI007001-35). The authors wish to thank Gail Henderson, Suzanne Maman, Suiming Pan, Yingying Huang, Malena Rousseau, and two anonymous reviewers for their assistance.
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Wang, W., Muessig, K.E., Li, M. et al. Networking Activities and Perceptions of HIV Risk Among Male Migrant Market Vendors in China. AIDS Behav 18 (Suppl 2), 142–151 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-013-0473-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-013-0473-5