14.12.2012 Views

The Context of HIV Risk Among Drug Users and Their Sexual Partners

The Context of HIV Risk Among Drug Users and Their Sexual Partners

The Context of HIV Risk Among Drug Users and Their Sexual Partners

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

<strong>The</strong> investigator believes that the questions in both studies were not as<br />

good or extensive as they should have been to overcome the reluctance <strong>of</strong><br />

respondents to report unsafe injection practices <strong>and</strong> gather good reliable<br />

data. Perhaps a future study should ask a number <strong>of</strong> questions about the<br />

setting <strong>and</strong> occasion <strong>of</strong> first injection <strong>and</strong> subsequent injections to gather<br />

more details about first injection <strong>and</strong> other occasions when sharing might<br />

take place. Hopefully, it will reveal better results.<br />

Condom Use<br />

In addition to <strong>HIV</strong> risks involved with drug injection, male sex workers<br />

also are at risk for unsafe sexual practices. Self-reports about condom use<br />

were generally high in the second survey; more than 9 out <strong>of</strong> 10 reported<br />

the use <strong>of</strong> condoms in the previous year, <strong>and</strong> nearly three-quarters in the<br />

previous week they had sex. <strong>The</strong>re were significant differences in the<br />

rates <strong>of</strong> condom use for different types <strong>of</strong> sexual behaviors, different<br />

partners, <strong>and</strong> different types <strong>of</strong> sex workers. Hustlers, or sex workers<br />

who solicit clients in public places, reported less frequent condom use<br />

during anal intercourse than call men. Oral sex with condoms varied by<br />

levels <strong>of</strong> education, but unexpectedly; men who reported attending some<br />

college (usually call men) also reported that they used condoms during<br />

oral sex less frequently than men with lower education levels. 4 <strong>The</strong><br />

variation by different sexual partners was as expected; condoms were<br />

used more frequently with customers than intimate or other nonpaying<br />

partners (Waldorf <strong>and</strong> Lauderback 1992). It also was found that condoms<br />

slip <strong>of</strong>f <strong>and</strong> break 2.39 percent <strong>of</strong> the time <strong>and</strong> that hustlers report more<br />

condom failures than call men (Waldorf <strong>and</strong> Lauderback 1993). <strong>The</strong>se<br />

findings suggest that many male prostitutes, <strong>and</strong> hustlers in particular,<br />

regularly engage in unsafe sexual practices.<br />

AIDS Prevention Efforts <strong>Among</strong> Sex Workers<br />

San Francisco has generally done a good job <strong>of</strong> providing AIDS<br />

prevention information, condoms, <strong>and</strong> bleach to sex workers in the city.<br />

During the second study, sex workers reported they had received free<br />

condoms from 15 different social agencies, as well as information about<br />

<strong>HIV</strong> risks. In many bars in the Tenderloin, condoms are provided in<br />

large bowls as a regular service. During January 1992, Prevention Point,<br />

the large <strong>and</strong> successful needle exchange program, began to provide<br />

syringe exchanges near Polk Street with a particular focus on sex workers<br />

in the area. Another site in the Tenderloin generally did not reach male<br />

sex workers.<br />

127

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!