This paper is about intimacy and its role in relationship risk management. Drawing on qualitative interviews with HIV positive people and their primary sexual partners it becomes apparent that a key tension in relationship risk management is the balance struck between`relationship safety' and`viral danger'. We find`love' and`intimacy' to be key features of relationship survival, with relationship intimacy and security signalled or strengthened by unprotected sex. Focusing oǹ discordant' partnerships in particular, we note that relationship risk management is a fragile process characterised by contradiction and anxiety, at once involving risk reduction and risk opportunity. We conclude that the intimate relationship is a prime source of everyday risk management which may be defended, even at potentially high cost, in the time of sexual epidemic. We also note that previous research has painted an overly calculative picture of risk decision-making in which the lived experiences of intimacy and emotions are largely missing.
This article reviews the academic literature on young people involved in prostitution. The prevalence and aetiology of youth prostitution and its links with drug use and criminal careers are explored. It argues that whatever the power of personal experiences which incline a person towards prostitution, prostitution can still only be possible in specific cultural conditions. The phenomenon of prostitution has the sexual double standard, poverty and an unequal labour market as prerequisites. We should not expect prostitution to either disappear or occur with equal frequency in men and women while these aspects of inequality continue. This article reviews debates on the particular challenges for service delivery and working together with this vulnerable group. In a civilized society, we should organize that the burden of inequalities which underlie prostitution should not be carried by children.
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