• sexually transmitted diseases
• condom use
• sex workers
• intervention programme

The introduction of market capitalism into the countries of the former Soviet Union, eastern Europe, and China has been associated with a social revolution. This is reflected in changes to employment, the family, mobility, state institutions, and culture. Many people face a precarious economic situation following the closure of state industries, the ending of food subsidies and declining welfare provision. Women have been harshly affected and sex inequalities have increased. Eastern Europe is the only area of the world where there has been a recent decline in the proportion of women in formal employment,¹ and a decline in the proportion of girls going to school in two thirds of the countries.² With these economic conditions it is inevitable that there will be an expansion in the informal economy, including trade in sex as a temporary survival strategy or, for some, a medium term strategy out of poverty.

These sex workers are vulnerable to HIV, STIs, and other risks of sex work related to violence and exploitation. The risks are heightened by …