A longitudinal study of the sexual behaviour of high-risk men and women living in a trading town on the trans-Africa highway showed that distinct sexual networks operated within the town. Forty-eight prostitutes kept daily records for 6 months of all their sexual contacts including the occupation and place of residence of each client and the price paid. Details of 4573 sexual contacts of the women were recorded. Three classes of women were identified: (1) 20 "high-class' women who charged a mean price of over US $4/- per contact. The majority of their clients were from large urban areas of Uganda (55%) or neighbouring countries (32%)-70% were truck-drivers or their mates; (2) 18 "low-class' women, charging an average of US $0.4 per contact, who were patronized predominantly by men resident in the town (71%) who were unskilled casual workers (58%); (3) 10 women fell into an intermediate category in terms of price and the residence of their clients. Thirty-eight male potential clients were recruited in low-cost bars where some of the women worked. They provided similar details of their daily sexual contacts. All were resident in the town and 22 had occupations which were classified as unskilled. Of the 1621 sexual contacts recorded by the men 25% were with new partners.
PIP: A longitudinal study of the sexual behavior of men and women living in a trading town on the trans-Africa highway (100 km south-west of Kampala, Uganda) revealed the presence of distinct networks of casual and commercial sex. 48 commercial sex workers recruited from bars and hotels on or away from the main road and 38 potential male clients located in bars away from the road were followed for a mean period of 16 and 13 weeks, respectively. Among women, a total of 4573 sexual contacts were recorded over 787 woman-weeks of observation, for an average of 5.8 contacts per week; 472 contacts (10%) were with regular partners. Condoms were reportedly used in 99% of casual and 59% of regular contacts. Clients of high-class prostitutes (charging over US$4/contact) were generally drivers from other urban areas or neighboring countries, while those of middle-class sex workers (US$2/contact) tended to be from fishing villages and those of low-class sex workers (under US$0.50/contact) were predominantly local unskilled workers. Among male respondents, 1621 sexual contacts were reported during 516 man-weeks of observation, for an average of 3.1 contacts per week; 584 contacts (36%) were with regular partners and 406 (24%) were with new partners. Men reported condom use in 3% of regular contacts and 87% of casual contacts. In-depth interviews with a convenience sample of six men revealed a total of 32 sexual contacts in the previous 2 weeks, of which eight involved wives or regular partners, 11 were with a sex worker encountered in discos or on the road, and 13 were with a woman known for 2-3 days. The condom use rates reported by respondents for casual partners are considered inflated, especially in light of the drunkenness that usually accompanies sexual encounters initiated in lower-class bars.