[Taking it like men]….health seeking and sexual behavior of young men affected by sexually transmitted infections in Botswana: is there a relationship between normative beliefs about condoms and their health seeking behavior for STI infections?

Serai D. Rakgoasi, University of the Witwatersrand

The paper seeks to establish if men’s normative beliefs about condoms has any association with their health seeking behavior; disclosure of STI infection to partners and sexual practices during the time they were diagnosed with an STI. The severity of Botswana’s heterosexually driven HIV /AIDS epidemic is well documented. The epidemic has been blamed on a number of factors, significant among which are high prevalence of STIs, unequal gender relations and the subservient position of women in society. Studies have shown how certain masculine norms and practices increase men’s vulnerability to infections. Most STI infections result from failure to use a condom or lack of proper use during intercourse. The aim of this paper is to investigate whether men’s normative beliefs about condoms have any bearing on men’s health seeking behavior; disclosure to sexual partners and sexual practices during the time when they were diagnosed with an STI.