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Female Sex Workers in Three Cities in Russia: HIV Prevalence, Risk Factors and Experience with Targeted HIV Prevention

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Abstract

Within Eastern Europe/Central Asia’s expanding HIV epidemic, relatively little is known about female sex workers (FSWs). Using mixed methods, we report on sex work context, HIV prevalence and contextual risk factors, and exposure to FSW-targeted prevention services among FSWs in Kazan, Krasnoyarsk, and Tomsk, Russia. Following a qualitative phase, FSWs (n = 754) were recruited via respondent-driven sampling for a cross-sectional survey with HIV screening in 2011. HIV was prevalent (3.9 %). In adjusted analyses, significant risk factors included injection drug use (IDU; AOR 5.85, 95 % CI 2.47, 14.43), client-perpetrated physical violence (AOR 2.52, 95 % CI 1.41, 4.51), and client-perpetrated sexual violence (vaginal AOR 3.77, 95 % CI 1.73, 8.22; anal AOR 4.80, 95 % CI 1.89, 12.19). FSW-targeted programming (reported by 75 %) was described as highly valuable, providing free, anonymous, and non-stigmatizing care. Findings confirm FSWs as a core HIV risk population in Russia, and demonstrate the need to support FSW-oriented HIV services. Such efforts should address violence against FSWs.

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Acknowledgments.

We thank the female sex workers who participated in this study, Svetlana Sadretdinova and her team at the Simona Clinic (Kazan, Russia), Marina Malisheva and Julia Burdina and their team at the Krasnyi Yar program (Krasnoyarsk, Russia), Nadezhda Ziryanova and Anna Petrova and their team at the Belaya Siren Project (Tomsk, Russia), and Shirin Kakayeva, Daesha Ramachandran, and Erin Pearson for qualitative analysis. This work was supported by the Global Fund (Open Health Institute).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N Wolfe St., E4142, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Michele R. Decker

  2. Center for Public Health and Human Rights, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Michele R. Decker, Andrea L. Wirtz & Chris Beyrer

  3. Department of Emergency Medicine, Johns Hopkins Medical Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Andrea L. Wirtz

  4. AIDS Infoshare, Moscow, MD, Russia Federation

    Vladimir Moguilnyi, Alena Peryshkina, Maria Ostrovskaya, Marina Nikita & Julia Kuznetzova

  5. Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Chris Beyrer

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  1. Michele R. Decker
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  2. Andrea L. Wirtz
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Correspondence to Michele R. Decker.

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Decker, M.R., Wirtz, A.L., Moguilnyi, V. et al. Female Sex Workers in Three Cities in Russia: HIV Prevalence, Risk Factors and Experience with Targeted HIV Prevention. AIDS Behav 18, 562–572 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-013-0577-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-013-0577-y

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