From first love to marriage and maturity: a life-course perspective on HIV risk among young Swazi adults.

ABSTRACT: This paper uses a life-course approach to explore the sexual partnerships and HIV-related risk of men and women in Swaziland throughout their adolescence, 20s and 30s. Twenty-eight Swazi men and women between the ages of 20 and 39 discussed their life histories in 117 in-depth interviews, with an average follow-up of nine months. Many participants described painful childhood experiences, including a lack of positive role models for couple relationships. Women's first sexual partnerships often involved coercion or force and resulted in pregnancy and abandonment by partners, leaving women economically vulnerable. Most men and women reported a desire to marry and associated marriage with respectability and monogamy. Men typically did not feel ready to marry until their 30s, while women often

SUBMITTER: Ruark A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4877271 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature