Identityfication of Risky Sexual Behavior among Adolescents in Low Income Slum Communities in Mumbai: Issues in methodology, interpretation, and prevention.

In the context of low-income slums of Mumbai, the present study is an effort to highlight the social circumstances under which adolescents are involved in alcohol abuse and risky sexual behaviour. It is worthwhile to mention that low income urban slums in Mumbai provide a conducive environment for adolescents to indulge in deviant behaviors. The basic data used for this paper has been derived from a World AIDS Foundation (WAF) sponsored project entitled “Alcohol use and sexual risk taking in low income slum areas of Mumbai, India" Conducted under the auspices of IIPS, Mumbai with ICR and UCHC, Connecticut, USA as partners. The qualitative insights that emerged from the in-depth interviews reveal that the presence of beer bars, especially ladies bars, video parlors and proximity to brothel based commercial sex opportunities offer an extremely conducive environment for risky social transactions among adolescents. Study findings clearly reveal that adolescents from low-income slum communities are actively involved in unsafe sex. These findings coupled with lack of source of knowledge put the adolescents at a higher level of risk in the context of HIV epidemic hence merits attention to improve awareness about safe sex preferably through schools or CBOs interventions.