Listening to female sex workers in Vietnam: influences on safe-sex practices with clients and partners
Doreen Rosenthal A B and Tran Thi Kim Oanh AA Key Centre for Women’s Health in Society, University of Melbourne, Melbourne VIC 3010, Australia.
B Corresponding author. Email: d.rosenthal@unimelb.edu.au
Sexual Health 3(1) 21-32 https://doi.org/10.1071/SH05040
Submitted: 6 July 2005 Accepted: 20 December 2005 Published: 20 February 2006
Abstract
Background: This qualitative study assessed HIV/AIDS knowledge and frequency of and influences on condom use with clients and regular, non-client partners among female sex workers (FSWs) in Khanh Hoa, a tourist-oriented province of central Vietnam where sex work is common. Methods: Data were collected via semi-structured interviews with indirect (n = 16) and direct (n = 9) FSWs. Results: Although the majority of respondents were well informed about HIV/AIDS transmission, about one-third had inaccurate beliefs about HIV-positive people as well as the mechanisms by which HIV is transmitted from mother to child. Condom use was inconsistent. More direct than indirect FSWs reported using condoms most of the time with clients but none used condoms all the time. With regular partners, most respondents reported that they never used condoms. Around one-third of women hid their sex work from their regular partners, who made the decision to use or not to use condoms. The most frequently reported reasons for not using condoms with clients were because clients offered a higher price, clients insisted on condom-free sex, and possession of condoms as evidence of sex worker status. For regular partners, the reasons were familiarity, condom use being dependent on partner’s decision, and condom use as evidence of sex worker status. There was no apparent relationship between HIV knowledge, time in sex work, and safe sex practices. Conclusion: Recommendations are made to improve the rate of condom use among FSWs.
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5] Farley M. Bad for the body, bad for the heart: prostitution harms women even if legalized or decriminalized. Violence Against Women 2004; 10 1087–125.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | [verified February 2006].
[20]
[21] Warr D. Pyett P. Difficult relations: sex work, love and intimacy. Sociol Health Illn 1999; 21 290–309.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | [verified February 2006].
[26]
[27]
[28] Ma Guihua. Finding the Asian way to combat AIDS. Sharkti 2003; 2 3.
[verified February 2006].
[33]
[34]
[35] Truong TM, Do TN, West GR, Durant TM, Jenkins RA, Pham TH, et al. Sex workers in Vietnam: how many, how risky? AIDS Educ Prev 2004; 16 389–404.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed | [verified February 2006].
1 *Direct FSWs are those who earn a living mostly by selling sex and work in the industry regularly; indirect FSWs have alternative employment in entertainment establishment and occasionally sell sex. Direct FSWs recruit their clients on streets or beaches; indirect FSWs contact clients via phone, through hotel staff and taxi drivers, or at their work place (such as karaoke lounges, cafes, dancing clubs, or beer shops).
2 †The capture–recapture method is used to estimate the size of ‘hidden’ populations such as drug users and sex workers. Capture–recapture studies assess the overlap between different segments of a population and then use statistical formulae to estimate population size.
3 ‡Ram days are the fourteenth and fifteenth days of a lunar month.
4 §Quick sex.
5 ¶OK is a well-known condom branch in Vietnam.
