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May 8, 2007Mailman School of PH Study Shows Inevitability of Men's Infidelity Across Cultures |
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From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: For a growing number of women in rural Mexico -- and around the world -- marital sex represents their single greatest risk for HIV infection. According to a new Mailman School of Public Health Study, because marital infidelity by men is so deeply ingrained across many cultures, existing HIV prevention programs are putting a growing number of women at risk of developing the HIV virus. The findings, indicating that globally, prevention programs that take a "just say no" approach and encourage men to be monogamous are unlikely to be effective, underline the need for programs that make extramarital sex safer, rather than---unrealistically---trying to eradicate it. The article's lead author, Jennifer S. Hirsch, PhD, associate professor of Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, is principal investigator on a large comparative study showing that the inevitability of men's infidelity in marriage is true across cultures. This was borne out in the research conducted in rural Mexico as well as in similar studies she is overseeing in rural New Guinea and southeastern Nigeria, which are published in the same issue of the American Journal of Public Health. In rural Mexico, reputation is a critical aspect of sexual identity, and attention to reputation provides insight into why people act in ways that are socially safer, but physically risky. "What we found in our research was that culturally constructed notions of reputation in this community led to sexual behavior designed to minimize men's social, rather than viral, risks," said Dr. Hirsch.
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