Violence against female sex workers FSWs has been increasingly reported as an important determinant of HIV infection risk. This study explores the frequency of different violent experiences sexual abuse, rejection, beating and imprisonment among FSWs in Argentina and its association with condom use and HIV and T.
A convenience sample of FSWs was included in a cross-sectional study conducted between October and November Sexual abuse was reported by A total of There was a higher frequency of inconsistent condom use with clients among FSWs who had experienced sexual abuse, rejection, and police detention. A higher frequency of HIV and T.
The study shows for the first time the frequency of different violent situations among FSWs in Argentina. The association between violence against sex workers, condom use and STI prevalence demonstrated here calls for measures to reduce stigma and violence against FSWs. Such violent experiences may increase vulnerability to STI through coerced unprotected sex. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
No additional external funding was received for this study. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Although sex work is a universal phenomenon, it is also illegal in most countries. Consequently, sex workers in many regions may have little or no legal protection and may be susceptible to human rights violations, including different kinds of violence [1] β [3]. Female sex workers FSWs are particularly vulnerable to different kinds of violence in line with the high prevalence of gender-based violence occurring in many countries [5].
