Agadjanian Victor, Markosyan Karine
a Center for Migration Research , University of Kansas , Lawrence , KS , USA.
b Health Education Association , Yerevan , Armenia.
AIDS Care. 2017 Jun;29(6):705-710. doi: 10.1080/09540121.2016.1242709. Epub 2016 Oct 19.
Unlike in most of the world, HIV incidence in the former Soviet Union continues to rise. While international labor migration has been identified as a potentially important contributor to this trend, most attention has been focused on risks of male migrants themselves. This study uses recent household survey data to examine HIV-related perceptions and actions of migrants' left-behind wives in Armenia. Multivariate logistic regression analyses show that migrants' wives are significantly more likely to suspect their husbands of extramarital sex than are non-migrants' wives. The analyses detect greater worries about HIV infection and a higher likelihood of spousal communication on HIV matters among migrants' wives, compared to non-migrants' wives, but these differences are largely explained by the suspicion of husband's extramarital sex. Finally, no difference between the two categories of women in the probability of consistent condom use with husbands is found. These findings are interpreted within the context of patriarchal culture and unequal gender relations in Armenian society as they are further reinforced by male migration. Implications of these findings for policies to increase women's awareness of HIV risks associated with migration and their ability to reduce those risks are discussed.
与世界上大多数地区不同，前苏联的艾滋病毒感染率持续上升。虽然国际劳务移民被认为是这一趋势的一个潜在重要因素，但大多数注意力都集中在男性移民自身的风险上。本研究利用最近的家庭调查数据，考察了亚美尼亚移民留守妻子对艾滋病毒的认知及行为。多变量逻辑回归分析表明，与非移民的妻子相比，移民的妻子更有可能怀疑丈夫有婚外性行为。分析发现，与非移民的妻子相比，移民的妻子更担心感染艾滋病毒，在艾滋病毒问题上与配偶交流的可能性也更高，但这些差异在很大程度上是由对丈夫婚外性行为的怀疑所导致的。最后，在与丈夫始终坚持使用避孕套的概率方面，两类女性之间未发现差异。这些发现在亚美尼亚社会父权文化和不平等性别关系的背景下进行解读，因为男性移民进一步强化了这种关系。本文还讨论了这些发现对提高女性对与移民相关的艾滋病毒风险的认识及其降低这些风险能力的政策的影响。
