Development, Dependency and HIV Risk in Kiribati ()
ABSTRACT
A
study was undertaken in Kiribati, a small Pacific island nation, that has a
low-level HIV epidemic but a high incidence of STIs among seafarers, their
spouses (and children), and those involved in sex work. There are connections
between development and dependency and HIV risk in Kiribati. Kiribati is a
peripheral and dependent small island state underwritten by conditional aid and
financial assistance and advice from donor countries, entwined in, and subject
to, external globalising processes. We found two major factors related to
Kiribati’s dependency engendered HIV risk. The first is Kiribati’s reliance on
transnational seafaring. Long periods away from home, shipboard and port mateship
cultures, and infrequent condom use in casual and paid sexual relations while
in overseas ports, exacerbated by heavy alcohol use, have
rendered i-Kiribati seafarers vulnerable to HIV. The second factor is related
to the labour force participation of young women, which is extremely limited.
In this context, some young i-Kiribati women choose to work on board, foreign
fishing vessels selling sex. They stay with one client while on board a boat—for up to three months—and sex work is not only an economic transaction,
but also emotional and affective labour. It is a pattern that makes consistent
condom use problematic. Having multiple sequential seafarer partners may in
fact generate considerable HIV vulnerability.
Share and Cite:
McMillan, K. and Worth, H. (2014) Development, Dependency and HIV Risk in Kiribati.
World Journal of AIDS,
4, 232-241. doi:
10.4236/wja.2014.42028.