Male partners of female sex workers: The intersectional risk environment of HIV/AIDS in a Kampala informal settlement

Aim: This study examined the context and drivers of HIV risk and vulnerability among male partners of female sex workers in Kampala, Uganda, using an intersectional risk environment framework. Methods: This research reports on findings from an ethnographic study (2016-2019) of men in one informal settlement in Kabalagala Parish in Kampala. This research included long-term participant observation in and around the study community. Thematic analysis was used to assess aspects of the risk environment and how it influences HIV/AIDS among male partners of female sex workers. Results: The informal settlement context where sex work takes place is conceptualized here as a risk environment, or a social-physical space in which risk and harm are produced (Rhodes, 2002). Risk is situated within a broader social and political structure that constrains choices and facilitates HIV risk, particularly for young, lowincome men facing matrices of domination on the basis of age, gender, residence, and income. These intersectionalities guide experiences of HIV vulnerability in the risk environment, including physical, social, economic, and policy risks. This includes physical risks (population density, bar density), social risks (sex work, bar groups), economic risks (informal and low wage work), and political risks (anti-poverty laws and legislation, urban policy). Conclusion: These findings highlight how an intersectional risk environment is differentially experienced by young, low-income men to produce unequal HIV/AIDS outcomes. This research fills a gap in the literature on the context of HIV/AIDS among men, particularly high-risk men like male partners of female sex workers. Using this framework will improve understandings of HIV outcomes among male partners of female sex workers and will facilitate context-specific and adapted structural interventions for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment.

Automated summary

This study explored the context and drivers of HIV risk and vulnerability among male partners of female sex workers in Kampala, Uganda, using an intersectional risk environment framework. It highlights the differential experiences of young, low-income men in a risk environment and emphasizes the importance of context-specific interventions for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment.