ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the impact and progress of the epidemic at two levels. It describes some of the significant features of life in the Dominican Republic which form the critical context of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome epidemic. The chapter examines the special circumstances of the sugar worker’s camps in the plantations, the bateyes, of the Republic. It presents an overview of the Dominican response, with some suggestions for the future. The economy is based on sugar and tourism, both of which involve differing forms of migration and foreign exchange in the form of dollars brought by tourists and money sent from Dominicans living in the United States. In the Dominican Republic, low incomes, and unemployment coupled with inflation—particularly of the prices of essential items—serve as strong motivators for sex work. In addition to serving as strong motivation for widespread sex work, poverty and unemployment force many Dominicans to face the rigors of migration to the United States.
