Behavioural Surveillance Surveys - The Wisdom of Whores

Female Sex Worker Indicator 5
Sex workers injecting drugs in
the last six months
Definition
Numerator :
Number of sex workers who
report having injected drugs
at least once in the last twelve
months.
Denominator : Total number of sex workers
surveyed.
Measurement tools
Female sex worker questionnaire
Q113
What it measures
In some countries, women engage in
commercial sex partly to support drug use.
Since injecting drug use is one of the most
effective means of transmitting HIV this is
of some concern. Sex workers who become
infected with HIV through injecting drug use
have a high probability of passing the infection
on to substantial numbers of sexual partners.
Strengths and weaknesses
There are very few prevention interventions
that try directly to reduce injecting drug use
among sex workers. If this indicator shows
substantial “overlap” between drug injection
and commercial sex, such programs may be
warranted. Such findings may also suggest the
need to add more extensive questions on risky
drug injecting habits to future rounds of BSS
with sex workers.
This indicator has advocacy value, too.
It illustrates the extent to which sex workers
may be putting themselves and their clients
at risk of HIV infection. It may increase the
incentive for clients to use condoms in
commercial sex, and may be used to increase
pressure for effective prevention programs that
take into account the many factors driving sex
worker behavior.
How to measure it
Sex workers are asked directly whether
they have injected drugs at any point in the
last twelve months. Those who report drug
injection in this period form the numerator.
The denominator is all sex workers.
B EHAV I OR A L S U R V EI L L A NC E SURVS U R V EY S CHAPTER Chapter 9
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