What are the characteristics of mobility?
Reasons for movement are as varied as the people who move. For example, economic motives, occupational pursuits, exploration, exploitation and displacement as a result of conflict, disaster or national policies, all contribute to population movements. There are a complex combination of factors leading men and women to leave their homes and travel to new destinations.
People may travel alone or with others such as family or recruiters. They may leave their source communities on a temporary, recurring (e.g. seasonal) or permanent basis. International movement may be legal, whereby they are formally recognised by the host government, or undocumented, in which they do not have the official documents that accord them the right to stay in the host countries. Travel may be involuntary, as a result of coercion, trafficking, conflict, or poverty; or it may be due to voluntary, usually job-related, impulses.
While mobility in and of itself is not a risk factor for HIV/AIDS, some mobile persons are especially vulnerable to the illness as a result of social disruption, the environment and their specific working and living conditions. Undocumented migrants, for example, may lack the power, resources and access to information and services to protect themselves and their partners from STIs including HIV. They may be forced into unsafe working and living conditions and be exploited for meager wages.
Female mobile populations, who make up an increasing proportion of mobile population groups in the GMS, may be subject to discrimination as a result of their gender and mobility status. They may have little access to reproductive health services, and may lack the bargaining power to prevent unwanted and unsafe sex during travel and at destination. Some may also be subject to sexual violence or exploitation.
Some highly mobile occupational groups, such as long distance truck drivers, seafarers, uniformed services personnel, and deminers, engage in work that requires them to be away from traditional social and familial supports, often for extended periods of time. In these contexts, they may be encouraged to seek out and engage in activities, such as illicit drug use and commercial sex, which increase their vulnerability to STIs and HIV/AIDS.
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