female sex workers

Swazliand; HIV; rehabilitation

The HIV situation in virtually all southern African countries is a generalised epidemic. Despite the fact that almost all adult age and social groups have high HIV prevalence estimates, sex workers are disproportionally affected, with prevalence estimates higher than the general population. In a qualitative study of 61 male and female sex workers in Swaziland, we found that while poverty drove many into sex work, others reported motivations of pleasure or “sensation seeking”, and freedoms from the burden of marriage as perceived benefits of sex work.

disability

A research study on violence against lesbian women, female sex workers, and disabled women in three countries in South Asia—Bangladesh, India, and Nepal. The study investigated the hypothesis that women who are outside the mainstream of the South Asian society suffer high rates of violence and are often unable to seek and receive protection from State agencies.

India

Objectives To examine the impact of a large-scale HIV prevention programme for female sex workers (FSW) in Karnataka state, south India, on the prevalence of HIV/sexually transmitted infections (STI), condom use and programme coverage. Methods Baseline and follow-up integrated biological and behavioural surveys were conducted on random samples of FSW in five districts in Karnataka between 2004 and 2009. This film from SANGRAM explores how organising as part of VAMP has affected sex workers’ lives. This fascinating article offers a critical analysis of the role of sex workers community groups in HIV prevention and care in India. Ishdeep Kohli blogs on

STIS; presumptive treatment

Sex workers have high rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), many of them easily curable with antibiotics. STIs as co-factors and frequent unprotected exposure put sex workers at high risk of acquiring HIV and transmitting STIs and HIV to clients and other partners. Eliminating STIs reduces the efficiency of HIV transmission in the highest-risk commercial sex contacts–those where condoms are not used. This paper reviews two STI treatment strategies that have proven effective with female sex workers and their clients.

occupation

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

A presentation by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation at the Mexico IAS Conference – NACO Satellite Session August 3, 2008. It provides a thorough account of how the Foundation’s HIV prevention project in India, Avahan, mobilises communities to deliver HIV prevention and care services to female sex workers and ‘MSM’ and transgender sex workers. This community mobilization has involved addressing a range of challenges so there is much to learn from the AVAHAN initiative see their website.

global

Article by Vandepitte J, Lyerla R, Dallabetta G,Crabbé F, Alary M, and Buvé A in Sex Transm Infect. 2006 June; 82(Suppl 3: iii18–iii25. This research attempted to estimate the number of women in the world that sell sex by collating information from published and unpublished literature, as well as from field investigators involved in research or interventions targeted at female sex workers. The proportion of women in adult female populations was calculated including by were extrapolating subnational estimates to national estimates.

Somaliland

Article in in AIDS: July 2010 – Volume 24 – Issue – p S61–S67. Objective: To measure prevalence of HIV and syphilis and describe characteristics of sex work among female sex workers (FSWs) in Hargeisa, Somaliland, Somalia.

Hong Kong

While the stigma surrounding sex work is both well documented and easily recognised, few studies examine stigma in this context from the perspective of the sex workers themselves. In this article we report on a study using a modified grounded theory approach to analyse a series of semi-structured interviews with 49 female sex workers in Hong Kong, in order to examine the ways in which this group experiences and negotiates the stigma which arises from their employment in the sex industry. Article in the Journal of Travel Medicine, 2011, Jan-Feb; 18(1): 1-7.

SANGRAM

An article in the Indian Express by Shruti Nambiar on the 3 May 2011. Pune: Seventy per cent of women sex workers are not pushed or forced into flesh trade but are drawn to it by the lure of higher income, according to the preliminary result of a survey released by women’s group Akshara. The preliminary results of the first leg of a pan-India study being conducted by two University of Pune researchers was released on April 30. An article by Subir Ghosh in Digital World published on the 1 May 2011. New Delhi, India. Four out of five female

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