In post-apartheid South Africa, there has been a significant rise in women’s out-migration from rural areas and across its territorial borders for economic purposes resulting in gender reconfiguration of migration streams. Alongside, there has been a simultaneous increase in the participation of women in the labor force. However, this has mostly grown in the informal sector,1 which is often associated with low earnings and insecure working conditions. One consequence has been the increasing reliance of migrant women on survivalist activities such as informal sexual exchanges that increase their risk of contracting HIV infection. Insecure working environments also expose migrant women to sexual abuses. This article is based on the author’s work in South Africa’s major urban centers and examines the nature of the relationship between the increased migration of black African women in South Africa, the nature of their work, and their resultant vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. © 2007, Baywood Publishing Co., Inc.

[No Keywords available]

Vulnerable Populations vulnerable population HIV Infections Human immunodeficiency virus infection economics survival poverty human Women, Working statistics ethnology Social Conditions Urban Health qualitative research South Africa interview health social status Humans female Socioeconomic Factors safety socioeconomics prostitution women's health high risk behavior Article Risk-Taking migration Interviews Sex Offenses Transients and Migrants sexual crime employment