This research will analyze the interactions between gender, migration, and sexual behavior among the Mexican population. Latino deaths in the U.S. from AIDS have increased markedly in recent years and Mexico currently ranks second in the Americas in the number of HIV cases. Although migration between the U.S. and Mexico is believed to contribute to the AIDS epidemic, there is little information about its interaction with gender relations and their effects on sexual practices in sending and receiving communities. The theoretical framework integrates migration into the Theory of Gender and Power to understand the gender and migration related factors affecting sexual risk behaviors among the Mexican population.
The specific aims are to: (1) compare prevalent sexual behaviors among Mexican men and women in a receiving city in the Southeastern United States and two sending communities in Mexico; (2) identify and describe the impact of migration on the gender structures of labor, power, and cathexis among the Mexican population; (3) model the gender and migration related determinants of sexual behaviors, including condom use, use of commercial sex workers, number of partners, sex outside of marriage, and male-male sexual encounters; and (4) construct a data-derived culture and gender specific conceptual model of sexual behavior and work collaboratively with community members to recommend strategies to inform the development of HIV interventions for at risk Mexican immigrant groups. Data for the analysis will come from an """"""""ethnosexual"""""""" survey of Mexican migrants collected in Durham, North Carolina and two sibling communities in Mexico, supplemented with in depth ethnographic interviews in the U.S. The combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods will provide culturally grounded and reliable information on gender, migration, and sexual behavior.
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