AIDSImpact.com:: - Santa Fe, USA 2011

Abstract #275 - La influencia del trabajo relacionado con el ambiente social en las prácticas sexuales de latinas que trabajan en Cantinas
Authors: Presenting Author: Prof Maria Eugenia Fernandez-Esquer - University of Texas School of Public Health
Additional Authors: Ms. Honora Swain,
Aim: Cantineras are Latina women who have recently immigrated to the United States, work as waitresses in lower class bars or cantinas, and who drink and socialize with Latino male customers. The objective of this presentation will be to describe the influence of context-related attitudes and beliefs on the sexual risk-taking behaviors of cantineras.
Method / Issue: A total of 360 cantineras working in 60 cantinas were interviewed as part of GIRASOL, a community intervention study conducted in a large metropolitan area in Texas. Study participants were interviewed by Spanish-speaking interviewers at their place of work. The survey included questions about demographic characteristics, drinking patterns, sexual risk behaviors and measures of the social climate at work. The measures of cantina social climate were derived from previous formative work and included (1) attitudes towards work, (2) perceived risks at work, and (3) context-related sexual conduct. The scales were tested for reliability with good results (Chronbach’s alpha: .74, .82, .77, respectively). An index of unprotected sex was constructed as a weighted score combining total number of sex partners with frequency of condom use.
Results / Comments: A hierarchical linear regression was used to estimate the relative influence of the social climate measures on unprotected sex, after controlling for demographic, drinking practices, and sex risk behaviors. Results indicate that having more negative attitudes towards work and not endorsing commonly-held beliefs about sexual conduct in a cantina significantly accounted for variance in unprotected sex after controlling for demographic and other behavioral risk factors. However, meeting one’s sexual partners in the cantina and not reporting trading sex were also associated with a higher risk of unprotected sex.
Discussion: Results appear to indicate that cantineras who hold negative attitudes and fail to endorse commonly-held beliefs about expected sexual conduct at work, may be distancing themselves from a cantina’s social climate. In so doing, they may be failing to recognize contextual cues that increase their risk for participating in unprotected sex. We will discuss the role of stigma, discrimination and gender norms in the possible explanation of these results.
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