Anthropology and AIDS: The cultural context of sexual risk behavior among urban Baganda women in Kampala, Uganda

One hundred and thirty Baganda women (65 HIV antibody positive and 65 HIV antibody negative), recruited from the Makerere University-Case Western Reserve University Collaborative Pediatric follow-up clinic in Kampala, Uganda were interviewed about cultural rules and norms for sexual behavior and HIV-specific risk behaviors. Interviews were analyzed for themes related to sexual risk, cultural rules regarding sex, and individual sexual practices. Statistical relationships were tested using X 2 and t-test statistics. The mean age of the women was 21 years (range 15–30). Despite sexual norms prohibiting sex for women outside marriage, subjects reported that there are certain circumstances when a woman may take other partners, including economic need, desire for greater sexual satisfaction, or revenge on a husband with other partners. Cases were more likely to state that women may have outside partners for economic reasons ( P < 0.05) and that women have outside partners for sexual satisfaction ( P < 0.01). Women interviewed for this study are complying with Ugandan AIDS control messages to ‘zerograze’ and ‘stick to one partner’. Fear of AIDS remains high, however, because women fear that their partners have not responded to risk reduction messages. Of those women stating fear of AIDS, 57% of cases and 62% of controls based their fear on their perceptions of their partners' activities. Therefore, women feel that they remain at risk of infection despite their own behavior change. We find that, while the potential for risk reduction is high for these women, cultural norms permitting males to have multiple partners limit a woman's ability to control her risk reduction. Important conclusions are: (1) a focus on women's behavior alone is not sufficient as both partners must respond to risk reduction messages; (2) knowledge about AIDS is not sufficient to achieve change in sexual behavior because sexual behavior is linked to economics, gender relations, and other complex socio-cultural factors; and (3) a study of Baganda male sexual values and behavior is urgently needed.