Sexual Concurrency in Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe: The Role of Gender, Economic Status, and Migration

Megan Klein Hattori, Brown University
Sarah Braun, Columbia University School of Social Work
Hope Chapman, Brown University
Carolyn Chuong, Brown University
Monique Morales, Brown University
Sushant Wagley, Brown University

Much speculation has arisen as to what is driving the extreme global disparities in HIV. Recently attention has focused on the possibility that concurrent sexual partnerships could be a key driver of both the uniqueness and severity of the epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa. Maintaining multiple partnerships is often identified as a means for poor women to achieve some level of financial security. In contrast, men may turn to non-marital partners when they cannot fulfill their provider role in the family due to economic conditions. In a context where gender, economic status, and migration are closely intertwined, this paper examines concurrent sexual partnerships among men and among women in Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe using recent Demographic and Health Surveys. Multivariate logistic regressions stratified by sex suggest a complex relationship between these three factors—gender and domestic relations, economic status, and migration—and concurrency in Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.