Female Tourists, Casual Sex, and HIV Risk in Costa Rica

This paper describes the involvement of young female tourists who visit rural Costa Rica with gringueros (i.e., local men who actively seek relationships with foreign women), and explores the implications of these relations, which gringueros see as outlets for sexual adventure, for sexual behaviors that could contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS. The findings highlight the need to use tourism-related locales to implement HIV/AIDS awareness strategies targeted at women tourists, gringueros, and other local youth.

Andrea FreidusEmail:

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Nancy Romero-Daza   is an Associate Professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa. She is a medical anthropologist with special interests in HIV/AIDS, reproductive health, and substance abuse, especially as they relate to women and ethnic minorities. She has conducted research in Lesotho (Africa), Costa Rica, Tampa, FL, and inner city Hartford, CT. Andrea Freidus   is a doctoral student at Michigan State University. Her current research examines the social and material dimensions of orphan care and orphanhood in southern Africa as a result of HIV/AIDS. She is also interested in the role of transnational, faith-based organizations in raising, governing, and shaping the subjectivities of orphaned children.