Poverty Migration and HIV/AIDS in South India
India has one of the highest adult HIV incidence in Asia (0.75 per cent) with about 85 per cent of the infections occurring through sexual route (NACO, 2003). Since 1986, when the first six Commercial Sex Workers (C.S.W.s) were identified in Madras (now Chennai), AIDS has become a visible threat to Indian society. High risk groups like Intravenous Drug Users (I.D.U.s), Men having Sex with Men (M.S.M.s), and Commercial Sex Workers were the first ones to be massively infected. HIV/AIDS is now spreading in the cities and in some parts of rural India to persons not belonging to high risk groups. India has also high rates of both internal and external migrations, either on a seasonal or on a long-term basis; and empirical evidence shows that migration is a phenomenon on the rise. Free from the traditional social restrictions and taboos of their communities of origin, and taking advantage from the anonymity of the cities, migrants adopt generally a more liberal sexual behavior at the place o