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HIV infection and the meaning of condoms

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Abstract

Present day meanings associated with condom use among drug-using women and their long term sexual partners include: loss of male protection; violations of constructions of intimacy, fidelity, conjugal bonding, and female identity; illness; and death. Efforts to change condom use patterns must be based on increased vocational, educational, and social opportunities for women. HIV prevention efforts might profit from the design of safer sex interventions informed by the above meanings; intensified mass media campaigns; and a re-contextualization of attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs.

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  1. The Women's Center Department of Epidemiology & Social Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, 111 E 210th Street, 10467, New York, NY

    Anitra Pivnick

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  1. Anitra Pivnick
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Pivnick, A. HIV infection and the meaning of condoms. Cult Med Psych 17, 431–453 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01379309

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