Extra-marital sex is more prevalent among husbands and wives living separately for long duration due to their work migration making them vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS, reports BDNEWS. According to a research report, although extra-marital sex by men was quite common, it was much more prevalent among migrant men who had lived apart from their wives, in Bangladesh or abroad. "Women were also more likely to report extra-marital sex if their husbands were living away from home," it said analysing sexual risk behaviour of married men and women who have lived apart due to the husbands' work migration. The proportion of men reporting sex with a female sex worker while abroad was particularly high 53.6 per cent and this constitutes a potential route for HIV to be introduced in Bangladesh from abroad, the findings said. The research indicated that women whose husbands were living away from home were about four times more likely to report extra-marital sex. The risk for wives is indicated by the low condom use reported by men, both for extra-marital and marital sex. Less than one-third of men had used a condom during sex with a sex worker, either abroad or in Bangladesh. About half of Bangladeshi men in the two study areas reported having sex with a sex worker while living away from their wives, mostly without use of a condom, there is an urgent need to raise awareness of the risk for HIV infection, and to develop and evaluate interventions to reduce the risk among migrants.
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