Types of Multiple Concurrent Partnerships in Ethiopia As indicated above, having sex with multiple partners at the same time has been identified as a sexual behavior that highly exposes sexually active adolescents and other community members to sexually transmitted infections including HIV. In spite of this, review of the limited literature on sexuality and HIV/AIDS paired with anecdotal information yields that, the most typical forms/types of multiple concurrent partnerships are acknowledged to exist in Ethiopia. These relationships include partner and the (“steady partner” and partner”- “main” “other” “side transactional sex, polygamy, wife inheritance, concurrent Wushema, Kimete, Jalala Jalto), bisexuality and multiple Sexual Partnerships among CSWs (paying and non-paying sexual partners) which will be discussed thoroughly in the following sections. 4.1. and the partner or the partner” and partner” “Main” “steady “side Earlier, concurrent partnerships have been described as an overlapping combination of main partner with others often referred to as mistresses, small houses etc. A or “main” “steady” partner is a wife/husband or girlfriend/boyfriend whom an individual loves or has a commitment to, whereas, or partners refers to affairs’ or extra marital “other” “side” ‘secret affairs, other than one’s committed sexual partner. Most of the time, these partners “other” are kept as a secret and exist to satisfy sexual, material or emotional needs (Strategic Communication Report on MCP, 2009). Below, such kind of relationships involving main/steady and other/side partners are presented among married and non-married partners separately. 4.1.1 Extra-marital Sexual Relationships Extra-marital relationships exist in different forms in Ethiopia and some are socially and culturally accepted depending on ethnic group, location and sex. However, although, this kind of relationships, where an individual have one or more sexual partners in addition to their
Types of Multiple Concurrent Partnerships in Ethiopia As indicated above, having sex with multiple partners at the same time has been identified as a sexual behavior that highly exposes sexually active adolescents and other community members to sexually transmitted infections including HIV. In spite of this, review of the limited literature on sexuality and HIV/AIDS paired with anecdotal information yields that, the most typical forms/types of multiple concurrent partnerships are acknowledged to exist in Ethiopia. These relationships include “main” partner and the “other” (“steady partner” and “side partner”- Wushema, Kimete, Jalala Jalto), transactional sex, polygamy, wife inheritance, concurrent bisexuality and multiple Sexual Partnerships among CSWs (paying and non-paying sexual partners) which will be discussed thoroughly in the following sections. 4.1. “Main” and the partner or the “steady partner” and “side partner” Earlier, concurrent partnerships have been described as an overlapping combination of main partner with others often referred to as mistresses, small houses etc. A “main” or “steady” partner is a wife/husband or girlfriend/boyfriend whom an individual loves or has a commitment to, whereas, “other” or “side” partners refers to ‘secret affairs’ or extra marital affairs, other than one’s committed sexual partner. Most of the time, these “other” partners are kept as a secret and exist to satisfy sexual, material or emotional needs (Strategic Communication Report on MCP, 2009). Below, such kind of relationships involving main/steady and other/side partners are presented among married and non-married partners separately. 4.1.1 Extra-marital Sexual Relationships Extra-marital relationships exist in different forms in Ethiopia and some are socially and culturally accepted depending on ethnic group, location and sex. However, although, this kind of relationships, where an individual have one or more sexual partners in addition to their