Culture, risk and HIV/AIDS among migrant and mobile men in Goa, India

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Within HIV and AIDS research, culture to a large extent has been relegated to the realm of beliefs and myths, i.e. culture has not been taken very seriously. This study, among migrant and mobile (truckers and fishermen) men from Karnataka in Goa, examines how HIV risk assessment and protection behaviour are culturally grounded. The study combines different theoretical insights such as the Health Belief Model (HBM), cultural schemes, cultural heuristics, cultural production of place and othering.
A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods was used in the data collection. A range of different qualitative methods was applied, ranging from in-depth interviews (25), focus group discussions (16), key informant interviews, analysis of media reports, observation, walk through the spaces, to visual materials. In a locally informed survey (N= 1259), results of the qualitative research have been quantified and validated.
Migrant and mobile men in Goa perceived the economic consequences of being infected with the HIV virus to be more severe in comparison to the social and health consequences. Men applied cultural heuristics of gender roles, vigilance and trust and used visual cues as guides to risk assessment and decision making when they had partial or uncertain information about their sexual partner. Knowledge on HIV and AIDS is locally produced and shared through cultural narratives. The link between culture and space /place is depicted in the manner in which migrants make their places (e.g. houses, temples), are othered by the Goan host population and search for sex workers.

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