Social networks and concurrent sexual relationships – a qualitative study among men in an urban South African community

Abstract

The aim was to explore and describe characteristics of males' social and sexual networks in a South African peri-urban community. Twenty in-depth interviews were conducted with men participating in a larger quantitative study where the median age of the men was 28.7 years and almost 56% had some high-school education, 17.2% were unemployed and 94.7% were not married. A Thematic Question Guide with open-ended questions was used for the interviews. A thematic content analysis was conducted to explore the characteristics and dynamics of social and sexual relationships among these men. A high number of temporary and stable concurrent female sexual partners, geographic mobility and high levels of unprotected sex were common. Increased status as a man and lack of trust in women's fidelity were given as important reasons for concurrent female sexual relationships. Strong social networks within male core groups provided economic and social support for the pursuit and maintenance of this behaviour. Concurrent sexual relationships in combination with high viral loads among newly infected individuals unaware of their HIV status create an extremely high-risk environment for the spread of HIV in this population. Interventions targeting men at high risk of HIV need to challenge current societal norms of masculinity to help promote individual sexual risk reduction strategies. Such strategies should go beyond increasing condom use, to include a reduction in the number of concurrent sexual partners.

HIV Risk Behaviours and their Relationship to Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Among Men Who Have Multiple Female Sexual Partners in Cape Town, South Africa

“…Second, the weights are dependent on the degree to which men would have knowledge of their peers' sexual behaviours. Although the validity of this assumption is unknown, qualitative interviews with some of the men found that they socialised in close-knit friendship groups [45]. In these circumstances it is likely that the sexual behaviour of their friends may well have been known.…”

Effectiveness of Respondent-Driven Sampling to Recruit High Risk Heterosexual Men Who Have Multiple Female Sexual Partners: Differences in HIV Prevalence and Sexual Risk Behaviours Measured at Two Time Points

“…Second, the sampling weights used in the analysis are dependent on the degree to which men would have knowledge of their peers' sexual behaviours. Although the validity of this assumption is unknown, qualitative interviews with some of the men found that they socialised in close-knit friendship groups [32]. In these circumstances it is likely that the sexual behaviour of their friends may well have been known.…”

Taxi ‘sugar daddies’ and taxi queens: Male taxi driver attitudes regarding transactional relationships in the Western Cape, South Africa

“…As elaborated earlier, the pressures on men to be sexually active and prove their sexual prowess through multiple partners have been increasingly documented. For example, a recent South African study among urban men found that having concurrent sexual relationships was regarded as increasing their status as a man (Ragnarsson, Townsend, Thorson, Chopra & Ekström 2009). This perception has also been documented in studies with local youth (Anderson 2010;Lindegger & Maxwell 2007;Ratele, Fouten, Shefer, Strebel, Shabalala & Buikema 2007).…”