Female Sex Workers in China: Vectors of Disease?
- 1 September 2007
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) in Sexually Transmitted Diseases
- Vol. 34 (9), 695-703
- https://doi.org/10.1097/01.olq.0000260989.70866.94
Abstract
To analyze the extent by which Chinese female sex workers (FSWs) serve as vectors of HIV/AIDS to an otherwise spared general population and to describe the implications of centering efforts solely on this high-risk group. By using the example of FSWs in China, we intend to demonstrate the role that structural factors can have on HIV transmission above and beyond individual high-risk behaviors. Literature review of years 1980-2006. Analysis of the literature suggests that major determinants of HIV transmission amongst FSWs in China include sociopolitical context, gender, work environment and finally, risky sexual behaviors. Chinese FSWs live in a specific sociopolitical context that shapes their capacities to engage in safe-sex practices. Focusing on FSWs as vectors of HIV/AIDS epidemic in China neglects the larger context that endangers all members of society and blames an already vulnerable population.Keywords
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