title: Monogamy and secondary sexual partnerships among Afro-Amerindian immigrant women in New York City: a qualitative study.
abstract: In New York City, HIV is increasingly concentrated in the foreign-born population, necessitating a greater exploration of the mechanisms through which changes in behavior and risk for HIV occur within migrant populations. Interviews were conducted with 22 Honduran-born Garifuna women to explore partnerships, sexual behaviors, and HIV risk in the context of migration, and transcripts were coded by thematic analysis procedures. Five themes emerged: (1) migration ends relationships, (2) new relationships in the U.S. form because of material and psychological needs, (3) secondary sexual partnerships are a man's issue, (4) female secondary sexual partnership participation as a marker of equality, and (5) monogamy due to a lack of time. These findings suggest that greater attention be paid to women's participation in secondary sexual partnerships for purposes other than economic need, and demonstrate a need for HIV interventions that are based in an understanding of how the social context of migration affects sexual behaviors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, 624 N. Broadway, Room 753, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. sgrieb@jhsph.edu
authors.forename: Suzanne M Dolwick
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Grieb
authors.forename: Jaughna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nielsen-Bobbit
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000208:ethnology / Q000635:transmission; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006721:Honduras / Q000208:ethnology; D006801:Humans; D009519:New York City; D012747:Sexual Partners