[Compensated sex: a practice at the heart of young Mexican women's vulnerabilities (STI/HIV/AIDS)].

OBJECTIVE: To discuss the risks for Mexican young women who engage in sexual relations in exchange for social or economic benefits, also known as compensated sex (CS), with the objective of exploring its possible public health implications. MATERIAL AND METHOD: This is a qualitative study conducted in youths 15 to 25 years of age in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico, between September 2001 and December 2002. The theoretical framework included sociology of knowledge, post-structuralism, and gender studies. Research methods consisted of six focal groups and eight interviews with young subjects identified or self-declared as having practiced CS. RESULTS: To conceal their CS practices as a way to obtain social or economic benefits, young girls disguise it as "courtship" and subject themselves to rules and behaviors that restrain them in terms of condom use and expose them to sexually transmitted infections (STI). CONCLUSIONS: Although CS itself may not necessarily constitute a risky practice, the courtship context in which young women tend to develop these practices exposes them to a greater risk of STIs.