Exploring HIV Prevention Strategies among Street-Based Female Sex Workers in Chongqing, China

Huan Zeng, Yong Zhao, Siying Meng, Xiaojun Tang, Hang Guo, Yang Wang and Lei Zhang
Additional contact information
Huan Zeng: School of Public Health and Management, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China
Yong Zhao: School of Public Health and Management, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China
Siying Meng: Department of Foreign Language, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China
Xiaojun Tang: School of Public Health and Management, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China
Hang Guo: Institute of Health Policy, College of Human medicine, Michigan State University, Lansing, MI 48910, USA
Yang Wang: School of Public Health and Management, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China
Lei Zhang: Research Center for Public Health, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

IJERPH, 2015, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: Background : Commercial sex plays an increasingly important role in China’s growing HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI) epidemics. In China, street-based sex workers (SSWs) are a subgroup of female sex workers with a particularly high risk of HIV/STI infections but are neglected in responses to HIV. This study assesses changes in HIV voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) utilization and high-risk sexual behaviors following a three-month HIV preventive intervention among SSWs in Chongqing, China. Methods : A three-month intervention was conducted by a team of peer educators, outreach workers from community-based organizations and health professionals. It mainly included distribution of free pamphlets and condoms and delivery of onsite and clinic-based VCT. Cross-sectional surveys were conducted prior to ( n = 100) and immediately following ( n = 112) the intervention to assess its impact. In-depth interviews were conducted among 12 SSWs after the intervention to further explore potential barriers to HIV prevention. Results: The intervention significantly increased SSWs’ participation in VCT (from 2.0%–15.2%, P < 0.001). Despite participants’ improved HIV-related knowledge level (from 24.0%–73.2%, P < 0.001), there were minimal changes in the levels of condom use with clients. Qualitative research revealed that fear of police arrest and stigma were the main barriers to VCT utilization. Low condom use was associated with family financial constraints, inadequate power in condom negotiation, low awareness and misconceptions of HIV infection risks. Conclusion : HIV intervention improved VCT utilization and knowledge but we did not observe an increase in condom use after this short intervention. SSWs faced substantial economic, social and environmental barriers to VCT utilization and condom use.

Keywords: street-based sex worker; Human Immunodeficiency Virus; condom use; commercial sex; peer-based intervention (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/12/1/855/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/12/1/855/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:12:y:2015:i:1:p:855-870:d:44815

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().