Risk amplification: HIV in migrant communities

Author: Banati, Prerna

Source: Development Southern Africa, Volume 24, Number 1, March 2007 , pp. 205-223(19)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

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Abstract:

The demography of both urban and rural South Africa is shaped by migration, with three unique patterns: labour-sending, labour-receiving and rural areas. This article explores the relationship between HIV risk and migration in South Africa. It identifies the urban informal settlements common in labour-receiving areas as key magnifiers of HIV risk, increasing the vulnerability of migrant workers in these townships. It examines the urban informal settlement, a unique social environment with distinctly high-risk behaviour dynamics, as a focal determinant of HIV. It proposes this framework as an extension of the migration-HIV dialectic beyond the traditionally unidimensional approach, to encompass a more contextualised discussion. This methodology, which uses the environment as an entry point to understanding behaviour and emphasises the importance of addressing the HIV-migration issue within a broader development perspective, has important implications for HIV programming in South Africa.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03768350601166080

Publication date: 2007-03-01

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