| Abstract | Despite a slight overall decline in the HIV prevalence rate in Zambia, the country  continues to grapple with a generalized HIV and AIDS epidemic. With 14 percent of the  adult population infected with HIV—12 percent of men and 16 percent of women ages  15-49—Zambia remains one of the hardest hit countries (2007 Zambia Demographic and  Health Survey (ZDHS): Preliminary Report, 2008). Although the determinants of HIV  acquisition are complex, multi-faceted and interwoven, and include biological,  behavioural and structural factors, there is increasing consensus that Concurrent Sexual  Partnerships (CSP) are a major factor in the rapid spread of the epidemic in sub-Saharan  Africa, including Zambia.  This study sought to understand the terms that people in Zambia use to discuss sexual  concurrency, the reasons that people choose to engage in CSP, community support for  monogamy, risk perceptions on CSP and HIV acquisition, condom use and Voluntary  Counselling and Testing (VCT) in the context of CSP, as well as people’s understanding  of sexual networks and the “window period” for HIV transmission |