# The Intersection of Activity Spaces and Social Networks on HIV Infection

> **NIH NIH F31** · TULANE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA · 2020 · $19,560

## Abstract

Project Summary
Studies on the health effects of sex tourism report that sex workers are one of the most vulnerable groups for
acquiring HIV due to their high rates of sexual risk behaviors1 and their disadvantaged positions to negotiate
safe sex because of social, economic, and cultural factors.2 In low prevalence countries with concentrated
epidemics, HIV prevalence rates among sex workers are often 3 to 4 times that of the general population.3 This
risk is often perpetuated by the availability and accessibility of illegal drugs in tourism zones. While studies
have examined the association between HIV risk-related behaviors including drug use and sexual risk-taking
and the social and physical environment that characterize neighborhoods;4, 8-11 there is a fundamental gap in
the current scientific evidence-base about which extra-individual contexts, “activity spaces” (spaces in which
daily activities occur) and social interactions or networks interact, and how that impacts HIV risk behavior.
The goal of the proposed research is to utilize innovative spatial-temporal and social network methodology to
describe the relationship between activity spaces and social network characteristics of male migrant sex
workers in tourism zones in the Dominican Republic (DR), and to assess how such daily activity patterns and
networks jointly affect HIV risk behavior, testing and infection. Considering that the DR has one of the
largest sex tourism industries in the Caribbean and is currently experiencing a dramatic increase in the use
and transport of illegal drugs, spurred by a shift in smuggling routes to the United States,27, 28 the country
provides a unique environment for examining how environmental and social structures shape HIV risk and
related behaviors among sex workers. A deeper understanding of the multiple factors that influence day-to-day
experiences of male migrant sex workers is paramount for reducing the HIV burden in the DR, and for
preventing international transmission through tourism and migrant routes. This study has three specific aims:
(1) To utilize novel spatial-temporal methodology to characterize the activity spaces of male migrant sex
workers in the Dominican Republic by linking activity space GPS data to already collected, novel ethnographic
mapping data from a current NIDA-funded R01, and to examine the impact of risky activity spaces on HIV risk
and related behaviors, specifically drug use, risky sex, HIV testing, and self-reported HIV; (2) To describe the
social networks (e.g. size, composition) of male migrant sex workers, and assess the role social networks have
on HIV risk and related behaviors in this population; (3) To examine the interaction between daily activity space
and social network characteristics on HIV risk and related behaviors. If activity spaces can be identified and
play a significant role in drug use and other HIV-related behaviors—including their combined role with network
characteristics—it will provide critic...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9918326
- **Project number:** 5F31DA042714-04
- **Recipient organization:** TULANE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
- **Principal Investigator:** Erica Ann Felker-Kantor
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $19,560
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-05-01 → 2020-10-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9918326

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9918326, The Intersection of Activity Spaces and Social Networks on HIV Infection (5F31DA042714-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9918326. Licensed CC0.

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