Knowledge of HIV/AIDS, Social Networks and Determinants of Risky Sexual Behavior among Male Migrant Workers in Rajshahi City, Bangladesh

Nazrul Mondal, Rajshahi University
Rocky Chowdhury, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh
Sabiha Moni, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh
Jeffrey Howard, University of Texas at San Antonio

This paper examines the relationship of social networking, knowledge of HIV, and sexual risk behaviors of male migrant workers in Rajshahi City, Bangladesh. Data for this study came from a random sample of 200 male migrant workers residing in Rajshahi City of Bangladesh. Both bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed for this study. The findings of this study confirmed that migrant populations are more likely to engage in sexual relationship that may result in increased risk of HIV infections. The predicted variables, educational status, watched adult movie or pornographic materials, smoking habit and taking illegal drugs have shown the significant effects on the likelihood of engaging in risky sexual behavior. While having knowledge that HIV/AIDS causes death does significantly reduce the likelihood of engaging in risky sexual behavior it does not completely mediate the effects of viewing pornographic material, smoking, consuming illegal drugs and being illiterate.