The significantly low rate of HIV infection and high rate of condom use among sex workers in Kolkata, India is partially attributable to a community-led structural intervention called the Sonagachi Project which mobilizes sex workers to engage in HIV education, formation of community-based organizations and advocacy around sex work issues. This research examines how Sonagachi Project participan...

STUDY GOALS To describe the differences between clients presenting after rape and clients who have consented to sex as a minor to an SGBV clinic in Harare, Zimbabwe, and how these differences affect their care requirements. BACKGROUND Adolescents and adults presenting at the specialized Sexual and Gender Based Violence clinic in Harare are offered a standardised package of free medical and ps...

OBJECTIVES To assess whether having received grey packets containing treatment for gonorrhoea and chlamydia was associated with condom use among female sex workers (FSWs) in 5 districts of southern India covered by the Avahan programme where both periodic presumptive treatment (PPT) and syndromic management were used to control these sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among FSWs. SETTING ...

OBJECTIVES To assess the age and gender differences of clients accessing mobile HIV counselling and testing (HCT) compared with clients accessing facility-based testing, and to determine the difference in HIV prevalence and baseline CD4 counts. METHODS This was a prospective observational cross-sectional study of 3 different HIV testing services in Cape Town. We compared data on age, sex, HIV...

Female sex workers (FSWs) in sub-Saharan Africa have one of the highest HIV seroprevelance rates of any population. Effective safe sex interventions are urgently needed to stop the transmission of HIV during commercial sex. Despite widespread education, counselling, and condom distribution interventions among FSWs, unprotected sexual intercourse remains a large behavioural challenge. Research o...

In this qualitative study of brothel-based Female Sex Workers (FSWs), the authors explored factors that influence safe sex practices of FSWs within an integrated HIV intervention. Qualitative methods, including focus group discussions (FGDs), in-depth interviews and key informant interviews were applied in four brothels in Bangladesh. Young and elderly FSWs, Sordarnis (Madams who own young FSWs...

BACKGROUND A comprehensive, HIV prevention programme (Projet Sida1/2/3) was implemented among female sex workers (FSWs) in Cotonou, Benin, in 1993 following which condom use among FSWs increased threefold between 1993 and 2008 while FSW HIV prevalence declined from 53.3% to 30.4%. OBJECTIVE Estimate the potential impact of the intervention on HIV prevalence/incidence in FSWs, clients and the ...

Young women who sell sex (YWSS) in Southern Africa are highly vulnerable to HIV, as the risks of being young and female in a high prevalence setting coalesce with those of commercial sex. YWSS are less able to negotiate safe sex, more likely to have higher risk partners, and less likely to use available health services compared to older sex workers. In Zimbabwe's national HIV programme for sex ...

IN MOST PARTS OF THE WORLD, SOME OR ALL ASPECTS OF sex work are criminalized. Consequently, sex workers have few legal protections and may easily be exploited or abused by clients, coworkers, and law enforcement officials. The isolation and disempowerment of sex workers, enforced by the threat of violence, may create barriers to negotiating safe sex practices, thereby increasing the risk for hu...