Young urban women's patterns of unprotected sex with men engaging in HIV risk behaviors.

AIDS Behav

College of Nursing, Rutgers, the State University of NJ, Ackerson Hall, 180 University Ave., Newark, NJ 07102, USA.

Published: November 2007

AI Article Synopsis

  • The study investigated why women engage in unprotected sex with male partners they distrust and view as risky for HIV.
  • Focus groups with 43 African American and Latina women revealed that unprotected sex was often a means to foster emotional connections and maintain stability in relationships, despite the associated risks.
  • The findings highlighted the contrast between low power sex scripts, where women often felt pressured to please their partners, and high power scripts, which emphasized self-care and stronger choices to reduce HIV risk.

Article Abstract

This study explored reasons women engaged in unprotected sex with male partners they distrusted and perceived to engage in HIV risk behaviors. Seven focus groups were held in public housing and neighborhood centers in the urban Northeast with 43 African American and Latina women. Content analysis was conducted by open and axial coding. Barrett's theory of power as knowing participation in change and sex script theory guided interpretation. Results indicated that Patterns of Unprotected Sex is a usual practice to maintain hope, sensuality, intimacy, strategic gain, and stability with a male partner. In low power sex scripts the salient risks of HIV were buried under an awareness of oneself as having to satisfy a man and accept cheating. High power sex scripts involved women's awareness of themselves as worthy of self care with diverse choices. High power scripts can be integrated into normative sex scripts as exemplars of more powerful ways of being and acting to reduce HIV risk.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2749655PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10461-006-9194-3DOI Listing

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