Migrant Populations: Socio-cultural Dynamics and the Explanation for the Risk of HIV/AIDS Transmission in Bangladesh

Abstract

Several studies reported premarital and extra-marital sex in Bangladesh society, including among migrant workers. Some studies documented extra-marital sex among the wives of the migrant workers, confirmed prevalence of HIV among migrant workers' families and transmission of HIV from migrant workers to their wives and children. However, most of these studies concentrated on risky behaviors and knowledge about HIV/AIDS. The social and cultural factors that may shape the risk behaviours of migrant workers and their wives while they live away from each other have largely been ignored. Against this backdrop, the present research aimed to understand and explain the factors associated with risky sexual behaviours of the wives of the migrants and non-migrant workers and their vulnerability to HIV infection. The research particularly focused on the socio-economic factors, and the religious-cultural context that could influence the risk behaviours of migrant and non-migrant men and wives of the migrant men in a rural area in Bangladesh. The present research consists of two components: (i) a descriptive, quantitative part that analyses a secondary data set on the wives of migrants and non-migrant workers, and (ii) an exploratory, qualitative component that probes the socio-cultural issues from in-depth interviews with migrant and non-migrant men and wives of the migrant and non-migrant men.