Media, nationalism, and the body: Exploring masculinities, male partner violence, and HIV vulnerability among female sex workers in northern Karnataka, India

ABSTRACT

Public health and media discourses on men and HIV prevention in India have largely focused on changing knowledge, attitudes and risk behaviour pertaining to condom use and safe sex. Little attempt has been made towards intervening in areas such as masculinity, dominant gender norms and intimate partner violence (IPV) that have been shown to have a direct link to HIV prevalence. In this paper, drawing on findings from an ethnographic study in northern Karnataka (India), we show how socio-political and communicative contexts influence and perpetuate violent behaviours by men in intimate relationships with female sex workers (FSW). We argue that constructions of masculinity, the stereotypes of which are reinforced through contemporary media, and movies, are intricately linked with processes of nationalism and play out in forms of chauvinism among working-class men. Violence, celebrated through various patriarchal discourses, legitimises and reinforces gender ideals that govern the private lives of men and their female intimate partners. This study provides a complex and nuanced understanding of structural factors that lead to IPV against FSWs and offers implications for HIV intervention planning in the region and beyond.

KEYWORDS:

• Masculinity
• intimate partner violence
• female sex workers
• HIV/AIDS
• health communication

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the support we received from the Chaitanya AIDS Tadegattuva Mahila Sangha in gaining access to our research participants and thank all the participants for their active participation in the study. We would also like to thank Srikantamurthy, Gautam Sudhakar and Priya Pillai for their initial work on this project. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the UK Department of International Development.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The project was funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) [grant number PHGHHD7610] as part of STRIVE, an eight-year programme of research and action devoted to tackling the structural drivers of HIV (http://STRIVE.lshtm.ac.uk/).