Using the Theory of Gender and Power to Examine Experiences of Partner Violence, Sexual Negotiation, and Risk of HIV/AIDS Among Economically Disadvantaged Women in Southern India

SUMMARY

This article uses the Theory of Gender and Power to examine women's vulnerability to HIV/AIDS in order to: understand the vulnerability of female sex workers/poor women due to poverty and lack of educational resources; explore women's vulnerability in the context of client/partner violence, alcohol use, male partner's high-risk behaviors, and women's lack of control in their intimate relationships; and explore the role of traditional heterosexual gender norms in the outcomes of sexual negotiation. Ethnographic data were collected from 32 women and 38 men in India as part of an ongoing National Institute of Mental Health study. Results highlighted women's vulnerability to HIV/AIDS stemming from partner violence, alcohol use, poverty, dangers of sex work environments, and tacit acceptance of cultural/gender norms.

KEYWORDS:

• Intimate partner violence
• sex work
• sexual negotiation
• HIV/AIDS risk
• resistance strategies
• poor women in India
• gender and power theory