The purpose of this study was to investigate the risk sexual behaviorrnamong college students and bar ladies.rnTo meet the objective, the Hawasa University students, bar ladies foundrnin Awassa, and customers participated in the study. The number ofrnrespondents was 480 (180 male students, 150 female students and 150rnbar ladies). The students were selected using stratified random samplingrntechnique. However, bar ladies were chosen using simple randomrnsampling technique. In addition 40 respondents (10 male students, 10rnfemale students,rn10 bar ladies and 10 customers) participated inrninterviews.rnornThe data obtained through the questionnaire were entered, cleaned andrnanalyzed using the SPSS software, and analyzed and interpreted throughrnMean, Standard Deviations, One way -ANOVA and Tukey multiplerncomparison test. The data gathered through interviews were analyzedrnand interpreted using thematic analysis.rnThe study found out that college students had better knowledge aboutrnHIV / AIDS than bar ladies. However, in practice bar ladies were morernprotected from HIV / AIDS. They were better in HIV / AIDS preventionrnstrategies than college students. College students had more favorablernattitude towards VCT than bar ladies. Mass media (TV and Radio), anti-rnAIDS clubs, school and health institutions were the major sources ofrnHIV / AIDS information for college students and bar ladies. Finally, it isrnvery helpful encouraging college students to transfer their knowledgernabout HIV / AIDS in to practice.