Men’s Labor Migration and Sexually Transmitted Diseases among Rural Women in Armenia

Arusyak Sevoyan, Arizona State University

The recent literature on the association between migration and HIV/STDs has shown that the effect of migration on the spread of HIV/STDs is not as straightforward as earlier believed. Studies from various countries found that in some settings migration contributes to the spread of STDs or the risk of HIV, and in other areas it has no impact. The literature also addresses the question of whether it is migrants or those left behind that increase the risks of HIV/STD but there is no agreement over this question either. To contribute to the existing literature, this study examines the association between STDs among rural women and their husbands' seasonal labor migration. The study also attempts to assess indirectly whether husbands infect their wives or vice versa. The analysis uses data from a 2007 survey of 1240 rural women in an impoverished province of Armenia characterized by high levels of labor out-migration.