Sex work practices and condom use in female sex workers in Sydney

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine sex work practices and predictors of condom use among female sex workers (SWs) in Sydney. SWs from two centres completed a self-administered questionnaire covering demographic and sexual characteristics and sex work practices. One hundred and forty-eight international (born in Asia) and 141 local SWs (born in Australia, New Zealand or the UK) were recruited. Local SWs saw more clients per shift than international SWs (P = 0.002), but international SWs worked more shifts per week than local SWs (P = 0.001). International SWs used condoms less consistently at work than local SWs (P = 0.001). About 37% of international SWs never used condoms with non-paying partners, compared with 14% of local SWs (P = 0.01). Speaking Thai (odds ratio [OR] 8.9, 95% confidence interval [CI]; 3.19-24.87) or Chinese (OR 17.4; 95% CI 4.98-60.89) (both P < 0.001) and previous sex work in Thailand (OR 10.0 95% CI 2.31-43.52; P = 0.02) were associated with inconsistent condom use. Strategies to improve condom use need to be evaluated.

Systematic review examining differences in HIV, sexually transmitted infections and health-related harms between migrant and non-migrant female sex workers

“…All papers that reported the results of cross-sectional analyses, although three included longitudinal data 25–27. In total, nine studies were conducted in Europe,28–36 two in Australia,23 37 seven in Southeast Asia,38–43 five in sub-Saharan Africa25–27 44 45 and four in Central and South America 24 46–48. Overall, less than half of the studies (11/26) were designed explicitly to explore the effect of migration on the outcome (table 1).…”

“…Overall, less than half of the studies (11/26) were designed explicitly to explore the effect of migration on the outcome (table 1). 23 24 30 33 35 37 38 42 46–48…”

“…The remaining 13 studies focussed on international or intracontinental migration moving from low-income or middle-income to high-income countries. Destination countries included Australia,23 37 Spain,29 30 Portugal,31 Italy,34 35 the Netherlands,36 UK,33 Hong Kong42 43 and Turkey 28…”

“…The definition of income was assigned according to 2008 gross national income per capita, calculated using the World Bank Atlas method 22. We focus on unadjusted associations because we judged that adjustment for socio-economic status is inappropriate, as these factors may lie on the causal pathway between migration, sex work and risk, and thus potentially mediate any associations with our outcomes, and potential confounders would not be measured or controlled for consistently 23 24. All analyses used Stata 12 (Stata Corp, College Station, Texas, USA).…”

Immigration Status and HIV-risk Related Behaviors among Female Sex Workers in South America

“…However, non-immigrant FSW reported more sexual contacts per week and low rate of condom use with clients, putting them at a high risk for HIV/STI infection. A recent study reported that local FSW had more clients than international (i.e., immigrant) FSW in Sydney, Australia (Fox et al 2006). On the other hand, illegal drug use was higher among immigrant compared to non-immigrant FSW, despite the small number in this group (2.7%, 28 of 1,047).…”