AEGiS-09IAC: Women protecting themselves: an intervention study to heighten monogamous women's perception of risk in light of partner behaviour.

9th International AIDS Conference


Berlin, Germany — June 6-11, 1993

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Women protecting themselves: an intervention study to heighten monogamous women's perception of risk in light of partner behaviour.

Int Conf AIDS 1993 Jun 6-11; 9:121 (abstract no. WS-D18-4)
O'Neil C, Rosenbaum J; Caribbean Epidemiology Centre/CAREC, Special Program on STDs, Port of Spain, Trinidad.

ISSUE: This intervention study set out to investigate women's perception of HIV risk when they themselves are monogamous but their partners have multiple partners. RESEARCH: A meta-analysis of national KABP surveys from several West Indian countries conducted by the WHO Caribbean Epidemiology Centre provided a regional profile of reported sexual practices. Subsequently, qualitative research was designed to further investigate heterosexual relationships and condom use among "steady" partners. The findings revealed monogamous women's perception of risk varied, yet the overall sense of efficacy to protect themselves was extremely low. The widespread perception in the region that condom use is associated with casual encounters heightens the risk of HIV for these monogamous women. An inverse relationship was found between perceived levels of trust between partners and condom use. PROJECT DESCRIPTION: A multi-channel intervention was developed as a collaborative effort between CAREC, AIDSCOM and National AIDS Programmes. The behaviour change objective is challenging and pushes regional strategies beyond where they have gone in the past decade. It requires that women either insist on condom use with their regular partners, an infrequent practice in the Caribbean, which requires intricate negotiation skills and a profound change in the partner interaction; or choose abstinence as their option for risk reduction.

Keywords: AEGIS, Sexual Partners, Risk, Sex Behavior, Perception, Behavior, Risk-Taking, Safe Sex, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, Contraception, Interpersonal Relations, Risk Factors, Logistic Models, Caribbean Region, Human, Female, nursing, ICA9KWDaegis,sexualpartners,risk,sexbehavior,perception,behavior,risk-taking,safesex,acquiredimmunodeficiencysyndrome,contraception,interpersonalrelations,riskfactors,logisticmodels,caribbeanregion,human,female,nursing,ica9
930606
WSD184

Copyright © 1993 - International AIDS Society (IAS). Reproduction of this abstract (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the IAS.