Document 0837
 DOCN  M9460837
 TI    Women's lives and sex: implications for AIDS prevention.
 DT    9404
 AU    Gupta GR; Weiss E; Women and AIDS Program, International Center for
       Research on; Women, Washington, DC 20036.
 SO    Cult Med Psychiatry. 1993 Dec;17(4):399-12. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE
       MED/94155607
 AB    Preliminary findings from the Women and AIDS program, a research grants
       program of the International Center for Research on Women in Washington,
       D.C. that supports 17 studies in developing countries worldwide, provide
       a glimpse into the complex interaction between women's social and
       economic status and risk of HIV infection. In many settings, the
       cultural norms that demand sexual fidelity and docile and acquiescent
       sexual behavior among women permit--and sometimes even encourage--early
       sexual experimentation, multiple partnerships, and aggressive and
       dominating sexual behavior among men. Drawing upon the finding from the
       program, the paper analyzes how such cultural norms, together with
       women's social and economic dependency, can limit a woman's ability to
       negotiate safer sex with her partner; restrict her access to information
       and knowledge about her body; force her to sometimes barter sex for
       survival; increase her vulnerability to physical violence in sexual
       interaction; and compromise her self-esteem. The findings highlight the
       limitations of the current HIV/AIDS prevention strategy for reducing
       women's risk of HIV, and underline the urgency for an approach to
       prevention that is grounded in the realities of women's lives and sexual
       experiences--an approach that recognizes the relationship between the
       dynamics of gender relations, sexual behavior, and HIV risk.
 DE    Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/EPIDEMIOLOGY/*PREVENTION &
       CONTROL/PSYCHOLOGY/TRANSMISSION  Adolescence  Adult  Comparative Study
       Cross-Cultural Comparison  Developing Countries  Female  *Gender
       Identity  Health Services Needs and Demand/TRENDS  Human  Infant,
       Newborn  Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice  Male  Poverty  Pregnancy  Sex
       Behavior  Sexual Partners/PSYCHOLOGY  Women's Health Services/TRENDS
       World Health Organization  JOURNAL ARTICLE

       SOURCE: National Library of Medicine.  NOTICE: This material may be
       protected by Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.Code).