The sexual and social relations of youth in rural Malawi: Strategies for AIDS prevention

This dissertation investigates the sexual and social relations of youth in rural Malawi. Situated in the context of an advanced AIDS epidemic, the research has three overarching aims: (1) to understand women's agency in the realm of sexuality; (2) to identify the connections between social networks, schooling, and sexual activity; and (3) to clarify the connection between gender, marriage, and AIDS. Drawing on a sample of adolescent and young women and men (aged 15-24 years) in three rural districts of the country, as part of the Malawi Diffusion and Ideational Change Project (MDICP), this inquiry employs information from survey data (n=1058), in-depth interviews (n=133), and HIV biomarkers.; The findings show that, contrary to typical expectations, women can exercise considerable agency in the sexual domain. The data demonstrate that monetary transactions in the premarital sexual realm are normative, and occur for reasons that are as symbolically meaningful and expressive as they are instrumental. Women's receipt of money from their sexual partners serves financial ends, but transfers have additional broader meanings, such as the articulation of love and commitment. The data further suggest that for those attending school, strategies are being developed to protect themselves against the risk of HIV infection. These risk-avoiding actions appear to be due not to increased access to available AIDS information in schools, but rather to young women's perceptions that a better future awaits those delaying marriage and avoiding premarital sex. In contrast, those who are no longer in school see postponing marriage and sex as less desirable, and thus expose themselves to an increased risk of infection.; Finally, the data show that there are links between marriage and AIDS that are strong, but also complex. In general, marriage coincides with higher HIV risks for women, but not necessarily for men. A deeper understanding of how schooling and the process of marriage shapes, and is shaped by, HIV risk is critical for developing more effective protection policies. Using a multi-method approach and sociological research techniques, these findings challenge much of what is reported about women's vulnerability to infection in the context of the AIDS crisis in Africa.