14 DAY TRIAL // Humans are not genetically programmed for monogamy.
At least men aren't. That's why for women marital sex represents the greatest risk of getting infected with HIV.
This is a conclusion based on researches made on rural Mexico, New Guinea, southeastern Nigeria, Uganda and Vietnam.
As the male's marital infidelity is so deeply rooted across many cultures, current HIV prevention programs expose an increasing number of women to HIV infection. Prevention programs asking men to be monogamous are totally ineffective, and safe extramarital sex should be promoted rather than unrealistically trying to stop it.
The research led by Dr. Jennifer S. Hirsch, associate professor of Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, points to the persistence of men's infidelity in marriage as universal.
The Mexican case covered six months of research on 20 marital case studies, 37 key informant interviews, and document analysis in the Degollado, a rural community. Sexual reputation was crucial for those men, making them have a very risky sexual behavior. "We also saw that men's desire for companionate intimacy actually increases women's risk for HIV infection", said Hirsch.
Married men in the community traveled often to the United States or large Mexican cities looking for work, and while away from home, they engaged heavily in extra-marital and unsafe sex, being highly exposed to HIV infection.
When returning home, the couples resumed marital sexual activity. "The result is that women are infected by their husbands, the very people with whom they are supposed to be having sex and, according to social conventions of Mexico, the only people with whom they are ever supposed to have sex. This renders abstinence impossible and unilateral monogamy ineffective. Marital condom use is also not a serious option, because of women's deep, culturally supported commitment to the fiction of fidelity", said Hirsch.
In New Guinea, labor migration was also one of the main factors for infidelity. Most men did not regard fidelity as a requirement for a happy marriage; and drinking and "looking for women" was important when the men were in a group.
In Nigeria, infidelity was connected to economic inequality, aspirations for modern lifestyles, gender disparities, and contradictory moralities.
Men's masculinity, sexual morality, and social reputation, added to modern lifestyles boosted the risky behaviors. "We might find men's persistent and widespread participation extramarital sex to be troubling - but it's a deeply rooted aspect of social organization, and one that is unlikely to be easily changed. Saying that 'be faithful' will protect married women is not true - unilateral monogamy is not an effective prevention strategy", said Hirsch.