A cross-sectional study was conducted from June to October 1999 inrnfemale factory workers (FFWs) in one of the factories in Addis Ababa,rnEthiopia . The objective was to study the effect of contraceptivernhormones on 'HIV-1 acquisition .rnPurposive sampling was used for the study . Allrnparticipate and age lS-45 years were included andrnFFWs willing torninterviewed. Bloodrnsamples were taken from each respondent for HIV and syphilis test .rnCharacteristics of the FFWs were compared between those using and notrnusing contraceptive hormones . Chi-square were applied where everrnappropriate . Identification of risk factors for HIV infection amongrnFFWs was performed using univariate and multivariate analysis (logisticrnregression model) .rnA total of 350 FFWs were enrolled in the study . Their mean age was 37rnyears. Most of the study participants had primary level education(79%rnwere less than grade 6) and married(77%) .rnWomen who were taking hormonal contraceptive on average had a lowerrnrisk for HIV as majority are married ,in oral contraceptive usersrn(00 . 6%) and injectable hurmune users (86 . 2%) .rnIn multivariate analys is, variable independently associated withrnprotecti ve effect against HIV infection were : Age group 35-39 yearsrn(OR=0 . 10, 95%CI= 0 . 02-0 . 70) and education level grade 7-12rn(OR=0 . 23,95%CI= 0 . 10-0 . 95) . Variables independently associated with anrnincrease risk o f HIV infection were : being separated (OR= 4.25, 95%CI=rn1 . 56-11 . 6) and being widowed (OR=8 . 28 , 95%CI=2 . 90 - 23 . 4)rnwith refe rence catagory married ; and having casual sex partnerrn(OR=S . 9 , 95%CI =1 . 7-47 . 5) compared with those having no casual partner .rnThere was no association between HIV sero-positivity and oralrncontraceptive and injectable contraceptive hormones use .rnThe over all HIV prevalence was remarkably high(12%)among FFWs in A.A.rnBased on the results of this study strengthening interventions aimed atrnadolecents and youth and prospective study specially from women withrnlong duration of hormonal contraceptive use are recommended