This study investigated sexual practices in two communities of Mansa District in Zambia. The specific objectives of the study were to examine local views on patterns of sexual behavior; determine whether extra-nuptial sex, sexual cleansing and levirate marriage are practiced in the context of the HIV and AIDS pandemic. The study findings show that extra-nuptial sexual activity is common among the people. Extra-nuptial sex relations especially among men were very common and this has encouraged the entrenchment of transactional sex among some vulnerable girls and women. There has also been a decrease in the number of levirate marriages in Mansa mainly due to increased knowledge about the high risks of HIV and AIDS infection associated with the involvement of multiple sexual partners in these types of marriages. However, some people are still involved in levirate marriages despite the dangers posed by the HIV pandemic. Poverty and gender power dynamics were identified as the major factors in this. Levirate marriages in the area are perpetuated by power relations and gender roles in which men are traditionally dominant in relationships with women. The subservient orientation of women makes it difficult for the women to abandon risky practices like sexual cleansing and levirate marriage as well as to fail to negotiate for safer sex practices such as use of condoms.