female sex workers

Measuring perceived stigma in female sex workers in Chennai, India

Although sex work is highly stigmatized throughout the world, a limited body of research has examined stigma among female sex workers (FSWs). We developed a Sex Worker Stigma (SWS) Index to measure perceived stigma among 150 FSWs in Chennai, India. These women were at a median age of 35 years and reported, on average, having engaged in sex work for nine out of the previous 12 months. The two-factor structure of the index was verified in both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses with acceptable goodness of fit. The final 10-item index comprises of two domains of perceived stigma from the

Effects of periodic presumptive treatment on three bacterial sexually transmissible infections and HIV among female sex workers in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

Sexually transmissible infections (STI) are common in female sex workers (FSW). AIM: To determine if 3-monthly periodic presumptive treatments (PPT) would reduce the prevalence of STI in FSW. METHODS: In a cohort study conducted between November 2003 and September 2004, FSW were enrolled, counselled and interviewed. Informed consent was obtained. Testing by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct), Neisseria gonorrhoeae (Ng) and Trichomonas vaginalis (Tv), and serology for HIV were performed at baseline and final follow-up visits. Each FSW received 3-monthly oral amoxicillin, probenecid, a combination of amoxicillin and clavulanic acid, and azithromycin. Tinidazole was administered once.

Prevalence of HIV and sexually transmitted infections among clients of female sex workers in Karnataka, India: a cross-sectional study

Background: Studies have demonstrated the significance of commercial sex work in the ongoing transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in India. Clients of female sex workers (FSWs) are thought to be an important bridging population for HIV/STIs. However, there is a lack of information on basic characteristics of sex work clients. This study sought to describe the prevalence of HIV and other STIs, as well as examine the determinants of these pathogens among a sample of clients in south India. Methods: Data were from a cross-sectional biological and behavioural survey of FSW clients from six districts in

Prevalence of HIV and STIs and Associated Risk Factors Among Female Sex Workers in Guangdong Province, China

An article in the J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr Volume 53, Supplement 1, February 1, 2010. Objectives: To assess the prevalence of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and associated factors among female sex workers (FSWs) in Guangdong, China. Methods: Respondent-driven sampling was used to recruit 320 FSWs. The recruited participants were interviewed face-to-face using a structured questionnaire and tested for HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea, and Chlamydia. Results: The prevalence of syphilis, gonorrhea, and Chlamydia were 8.0% (4.6%–12.2%), 9.5% (5.6%–14.3%), and 3.9% (1.7%–6.2%), respectively, and of any STIs was 19.7% (13.9%–26.2%). None of the participants were HIV positive. The median number of clients

Challenging the stigmatization of female sex workers through a community-led structural intervention: learning from a case study of a female sex worker intervention in Andhra Pradesh, India

Article in AIDS Care, 22: S2, 1629 — 1636. Structural interventions represent a potentially powerful approach to HIV prevention among female sex workers (FSW) that focus on changing the social context of risk rather than individual behavior. Community-led structural interventions (CLSI) represent a particular form of structural interventions whereby the collective energy of FSW is directed toward action to address the contextual factors that promote their risk. Among these different contextual factors that may be the target of CLSI, are social norms that stigmatize FSW and their work. Drawing from ethnographic data collected as part of an ongoing analysis of

National Behavioural Surveillance Survey 2007-08 Report from Myanmar On Injecting Drug Users and Female Sex Workers

Background: To monitor the trajectory of the HIV epidemic among higher risk groups the National AIDS Programme (NAP) has a two prong surveillance system which consists of HIV sentinel serosurveillance and behavioural surveillance surveys (BSS). Both are critical components for assessing and evaluating the overall impact of the national response to HIV and AIDS. The previous round of BSS, in 2003, were conducted among the general population. Between late 2007 and the first quarter 2008, BSS was conducted in female sex workers (FSW) and injection drug users (IDU), for first time by the NAP. Method: The NAP employed respondent driven sampling

HIV/AIDS, gender and sex work

This short fact sheet outlines the key issues and HIV risks associated with sex work in many parts of the world including: high rates of STIs and HIV; poverty; low educational level; limited access to healthcare services and prevention commodities; gender inequalities; social stigma and low social status; drug or substance use and; a lack of protective legislation and policies. It suggests that the following types of HIV programmes have been successful in meeting sex workers’ needs: • Interventions that take place in a variety of settings, including bars, clubs, brothels, the street, truck stops, and prisons; • Targeted interventions

An assessment of sex work in Swaziland: barriers to and opportunities for HIV prevention among sex workers

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. We also found that penile-vaginal sex was not universal in male-female sexual encounters; and

'Better pay 'drives' women to prostitution'

A news story in the Times of India by Anahita Mukherji which highlights our research on sex work’s position in the labour market in India. This story was published on Labour Day, or May Day, 2011. MUMBAI: Very rarely does a survey of prostitution take into account the economics of sex work, or view it in the context of the labour market. While a detailed study of the economics of commercial sex work in the US found its way into the 2009 bestseller Superfreakonomics, two economists from Pune University have studied the same angle in perhaps the first pan-India study

'70% sex workers opt for prostitution'

This news story was written by Aarefa Johari for the Hindustan Times on the 1 May 2011. The story is a write up of the launch of the ‘First pan-India survey of sex workers’, conducted by Pune University academicians Rohini Sahni and V Kalyan Shankar. Nearly 70% of female sex workers in the country have joined the profession voluntarily, and were not forced or sold. Also, prostitution is just one among several labour options available to women from poor backgrounds — a majority of them join the trade at a much older age compared to other informal markets such as

Keyword search