The smokescreen of culture: AIDS and the indigenous in Papua, Indonesia.
In health transition studies on AIDS, government activities typically have been accorded less importance than local cultural practices. Certain social and cultural values, theorists argue, prevent potentially at-risk individuals from taking effective precautions to prevent HIV infection during sexual intercourse. This paper shows how a focus on culture is inadequate to understanding the issue of risk when the AIDS epidemic occurs in a colonial context. A study conducted in 2001 in Papua (West Papua), eastern Indonesia, shows that ongoing colonial relationships between indigenous Papuans and in-migrant Indonesians create inequities in AIDS awareness. Rates of HIV infection in Papua are high, but indigenous Papuans have a low level of awareness. Drawing on a survey of condom use and the sex work industry, this paper shows that government values, and economic conditions, need to be scrutinized as closely as culture in order to provide effective AIDS prevention in Papua.
Butt
Leslie
L
Department of Pacific and Asian Studies, University of Victoria, Canada.
Numbery
Gerdha
G
Morin
Jake
J
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission; D017280:Condoms / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003469:Culture; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D019456:Health Transition; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D044468:Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D010219:Papua New Guinea / Q000453:epidemiology; D011056:Political Systems; D012309:Risk-Taking; D011477:Sex Work / Q000208:ethnology; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*