Skip to main content

ETHNOS_APP

Home • Search • Journals • List 0

Kunyenga, "Real Sex," and Survival

Assessing the Risk of HIV Infection among Urban Street Boys in Tanzania

Bibliographic Data

ID2478706
AuthorsChris Lockhart (0000-0002-1713-7957, The University of Western Australia, corresponding author)
Year2002
Volume16
Issue3
Pages294-311
Publication date2002-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueMedical Anthropology Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0745-5194 • E-ISSN: 1548-1387
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1525/maq.2002.16.3.294
PMID12227258
OpenAlexW2033045498
LanguageEN
Citations received20
References cited15

This article examines possible avenues of HIV infection among urban street boys in Tanzania. In doing so, it questions the ways that AIDS researchers have defined and approached the phenomenon of "survival sex" in East and Central Africa. The article specifically examines the boys' sexual networks, sexual practices, and attitudes regarding their own sexual behavior, including their perceived risk of HIV/AIDS infection. Seventy-five street boys aged eight to 20 from the city ofMwanza were interviewed. Results suggest that almost all street boys are involved in a sexual network in which homosexual and heterosexual behavior occurs. Homosexual practices are rooted in a complex set of behaviors and ideologies known as kunyenga, which is a situated aspect of life on the streets and helps maintain the boys' strong dependence on one another. A key aspect of the boys' sexual careers involves a decrease in kunyenga activity as they approach the age of 18 and an increase in heterosexual encounters after the age of 11. There appears to be a critical period between these ages in which heterosexual and kunyenga activities overlap. It is suggested that boys between these ages represent a potential bridge for HIV/AIDS infection between the general population and the relatively enclosed sexual network of street boys. [Tanzania, street children, HIV/AIDS, sexual behavior

Developmental psychology · Heterosexuality · Homosexuality · Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV · Population · Sexual behavior · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Tanzania · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health · Demography · Gender Studies · HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions · Medicine · Psychology · Sex work and related issues · Immunology

  • Eating sweets without the wrapper

    Lonnie Embleton, Juddy Wachira et al.•Culture Health & Sexuality•2016

  • Aids, Culture, and Africa

    Douglas A Feldman•AIDS, culture, and Africa•2008

  • The Marquis de Sade's Zimbabwe Adventure

    Open Access•M Epprecht•Sexualities•2007

  • Initiation to street life

    Open Access•Juddy Wachira, Allan Kamanda et al.•BMC Public Health•2015

  • Sexual practices among unmarried adolescents in Tanzania

    Open Access•Method Kazaura, Method R Kazaura et al.•BMC Public Health•2009

  • A Pilot Study of “Peer Navigators” to Promote Uptake of HIV Testing, Care and Treatment Among Street-Connected Children and Youth in Eldoret, Kenya

    Open Access•Pooja Shah, M Kibel et al.•AIDS and Behavior•2018

  • Prevalence and Risk of Blood-Borne and Sexually Transmitted Viral Infections in Incarcerated Youth in Salvador, Brazil

    Open Access•Margaret Fialho, Márcia Cristina Fernandes Messias et al.•AIDS and Behavior•2008

  • Dispelling “heterosexual African Aids” in Namibia

    Robert Lorway•Culture Health & Sexuality•2006

  • The Making of ‘African Sexuality’

    Open Access•M Epprecht•History Compass•2010

  • Tanzanian Adolescent Boys’ Transitions Through Puberty

    Marni Sommer, Samuel Likindikoki et al.•American Journal of Public Health•2014

  • South African Men Who Have Sex With Both Men and Women and How They Differ From Men Who Have Sex With Men Exclusively

    Carolina Alcala-Alezones, Theo Sandfort et al.•The Journal of Sex Research•2018

  • Same-Sex Practicing Men in Tanzania from 1860 to 2010

    Open Access•Kåre Moen, Peter Aggleton et al.•Archives of Sexual Behavior•2014

  • Navigating the Aids Industry

    Open Access•J Boesten•Development and Change•2011

  • When Rape Goes Unnamed

    Ashley Currier, Rashida A Manuel•Australian Feminist Studies•2014

  • Sexuality, Africa, History

    M Epprecht•The American Historical Review•2009

  • Gays, Guys, andMchicha Mwiba

    Kåre Moen, Peter Aggleton et al.•Journal of Homosexuality•2014

  • Assessing Aids Research in Africa

    Open Access•Brooke G Schoepf•African Studies Review•2010

  • The Life and Death of a Street Boy in East Africa

    Open Access•Chris Lockhart•Medical Anthropology Quarterly•2008

  • Eat squid not fish

    Kelly Askew, Kelly М Askew•Journal of African Cultural Studies•2015

  • Where Can I be Deported?" Thinking Through the "Foreigner Fetish" in Namibia

    Robert Lorway•Medical Anthropology•2008

  • Sexual and reproductive health among primary and secondary school pupils in Mwanza, Tanzania

    Edna Matasha, T NTEMBELEA et al.•AIDS Care•1998

  • The extended family and support for people with Aids in a rural population in south west Uganda

    Janet Seeley, Ellen Kajura et al.•AIDS Care•1993

  • The consequences of HIV/Aids in Eastern Africa on mothers, children, and orphans

    Open Access•Linda A Valleroy, Jeffrey R Harris et al.•Population and Environment•1993

  • Economic Development and Urban Migration

    Joel Samoff, R H Sabot et al.•International Migration Review•1981

  • Orphans as a window on the Aids epidemic in sub-saharan Africa

    Open Access•Susan S Hunter•Social Science & Medicine•1990

  • The competing discourses of HIV/Aids in sub-Saharan Africa

    Open Access•Gill Seidel•Social Science & Medicine•1993

  • Learning about sexuality

    Open Access•Diane Civic•Social Science & Medicine•1996

  • Impact of HIV/Aids on African children

    Open Access•Elizabeth A Preble•Social Science & Medicine•1990

  • Anthropology and Aids

    Open Access•Janet W Mcgrath, Charles B Rwabukwali et al.•Social Science & Medicine•1993

  • The Social Context of Aids in sub-Saharan Africa

    John C Caldwell, Pat Caldwell et al.•Population and Development Review•1989

  • Economic Development and Urban Migration

    James D Graham, James Graham et al.•The International Journal of…•1981

  • Crisis, Urbanization, and Urban Poverty in Tanzania

    K Flynn, Karen Coen Flynn et al.•The International Journal of…•1996

Unique citing works20
Citations per year1
Citation span2006 - 2018 (13)
Citation velocityhistorical
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 19
Ethnos_APP • Open Source Project • MIT License • Frontend v2.0.0 • Privacy and Cookies • API Documentation: api.ethnos.app/docs • API Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17049435 • Frontend Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17050053 • cruz.rio.br • Expectantes Misericordiae