Social Networks, AIDS/STD Knowledge, and Risk Behaviors among Male Clients of Female Sex Workers in Bali, Indonesia

Kathy Ford, University of Michigan
Dewa Wirawan, Kerti Praja Foundation
Partha Muliawan, Kerti Praja Foundation

The objective of this paper is to examine the association of AIDS and STD knowledge, demographic variables, and peer influence on the condom use of clients of Indonesian sex workers. Data for the study were drawn from the Bali STD/AIDS study conducted from 1997-1999 in Bali, Indonesia. During the project 2,120 men were selected for interviews in low price brothels. Statistical methods included logistic and multivariate regression models. Results of the study showed that younger, more educated men, and men with better knowledge of AIDS and STDs were more likely to use condoms. Men whose friends knew that they visited sex workers were less likely to use condoms, while men who reported that their friends used condoms with sex workers and that their friends encouraged them to use condoms with sex workers were more likely to use condoms with sex workers.