Social inequalities, sexual tourism and HIV in Cartagena, Colombia: an ethnographic study

A five-year ethnographic study in Cartagena, Colombia, reveals that social inequalities—rooted in class, skin color, gender, and sexual orientation—synergistically increase vulnerability to HIV infection, particularly within the city's sexual tourism industry. The research found that poverty, racialization, and gender disparities historically sustain dynamics that fuel this industry, thereby elevating HIV risk for marginalized groups. The study highlights a distinct link between globalized sexual tourism and Cartagena's colonial-era racialized social structure, illustrating how these intersecting factors complicate safe sex practices and perpetuate HIV transmission.

Quevedo-Gómez, M. C., Krumeich, A., Abadía-Barrero, C. E., & van den Borne, H. W. (2020). Social inequalities, sexual tourism and HIV in Cartagena, Colombia: an ethnographic study. BMC Public Health, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-09179-2