Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2015.Circular labour migration is a livelihood strategy for many Malawians regardless that migrant workers and their sexual partners are well known groups to be at risk of HIV infection. Many of these migrant workers and their sexual partners are socially and sexually connected through kinship, friendship and sexuality.
The aim of this research is to explore the role of social networks on HIV risk reduction strategies and transmission mechanisms among the migrant workers and their sexual partners.
To explore the role of social networks on HIV risk reduction strategies and transmission mechanisms among the migrant workers and their sexual partners, this research makes use of empirical qualitative data. The data was collected through in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and conversational observations both at the migrant rural workplace of Kayelekera Uranium mine and one of the migrant sending rural village of Maganga in Malawi.
Findings of this research show that HIV and AIDS information was discussed daily within the social networks of the migrant workers and their sexual partners. As a result, knowledge about HIV and AIDS was universal among the migrant workers and their sexual partners. However, most of these social network discussions about HIV and AIDS among the migrant workers and their sexual partners were along gender lines, in that the migrant men talked with their male colleagues while their sexual partners talked with their female friends. Despite the gendered nature of their social networks, their influences on discussions about HIV and AIDS for the migrant men were similar to those for their sexual partners.
In their discussions, the migrant workers and their sexual partners attempted to formulate HIV risk reduction strategies. These HIV risk reduction strategies were socially framed to suit to the local social circumstances of the migrant workers and their sexual partners. Although similar, social network influences on risk perception for both the migrant workers and their sexual partners nevertheless reached quite different conclusions about appropriate HIV risk reduction strategies. Most of the migrant workers talked more about partner selection, partner reduction and remaining faithful. In their discussions, the rural regular sexual partners of the migrant workers focused on how to persuade their migrant partners to remain faithful.
The differences in HIV risk reduction strategies between the migrant workers and their sexual partners could be that social influence plays a greater role in HIV and AIDS conversation networks. In this case, the more dense and homogeneous the HIV and AIDS conversation network is, the more normative the effects are, that is, the social influence. For the rural partners, their HIV and AIDS conversation partners were usually from the same local village. While for the migrant men, there was greater social integration from different geographical locations meeting at the workplace. All in all, the most important empirical result is that social networks of the migrant workers and their sexual partners have significant and substantial effects on HIV risk reduction strategies.
Despite socially accepted strategies of HIV risk reduction, some of the migrant workers and their sexual partners indulged in risky sexual behaviour. Some of these migrant workers and their sexual partners were involved in, supported and encouraged multiple and concurrent sexual partnerships among their social networks of colleagues and friends. They even assisted each other in identifying potential sexual partners.
With the influence of their social network colleagues, some of the migrant workers used condoms with some of their casual sexual partners especially at the workplace. However, none of the regular sexual partners of the migrant workers used condoms with their casual sexual partners in the migrant sending rural village. Also, the migrant workers themselves did not used condoms with their regular rural sexual partners. The prevailing social norm was that condoms were not acceptable in regular sexual partnerships. It is this sanctioned low level of protection within regular sexual partnerships that is likely to increase the risk of HIV transmission among the migrant workers and their regular sexual partners regardless of some noticeable efforts within their social networks to reduce HIV risk.
Therefore, my findings confirm that social networks have a role both on HIV risk reduction strategies and transmission mechanisms among the migrant workers and their sexual partners. Thus, the consideration of the local social contexts within which the migrant workers and their sexual partners transact their daily life is paramount if HIV interventions are to work
