Understanding women's risk of HIV infection in Thailand through critical hermeneutics

Approximately 20% of all new AIDS cases in Thailand are women of childbearing age. Women are particularly vulnerable to HIV infection because of the social and sexual practices of men frequenting prostitutes, even after marriage, and the inability of women to exert control on decisions regarding sexual health. Women's oppression in Thailand is discussed and a position made of the moral imperative to use counterhegemonic methodologies in the study of HIV risk and prevention in Thai women. Interpretive and critical research methodologies are reviewed, and a case is made for using critical hermeneutics as an approach for investigating women's oppression in Thailand and their vulnerability to HIV infection.