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

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SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS<br />

In general, large numbers <strong>of</strong> male sex workers in San Francisco<br />

participate in considerable injection drug use, most particularly<br />

methamphetamines <strong>and</strong> cocaine. It is expected that much <strong>of</strong> this has to<br />

do with the particular drug scenes <strong>of</strong> Polk Street, the Tenderloin, <strong>and</strong> the<br />

Castro District, neighborhoods that have very active drug scenes <strong>and</strong><br />

where many sex workers work <strong>and</strong> live. Male sex workers also report<br />

considerable syringe sharing, but it is felt that many workers<br />

underreported sharing. Both practices, along with unsafe sexual<br />

activities, place many sex workers at risk <strong>of</strong> <strong>HIV</strong>. Other studies <strong>of</strong> male<br />

street sex workers in Atlanta <strong>and</strong> New Orleans also have found<br />

substantial percentages <strong>of</strong> IDUs among street workers in those cities, but<br />

this was not the case in New York City.<br />

With the exception <strong>of</strong> the San Francisco study, most studies <strong>of</strong> male sex<br />

workers have focused on street workers <strong>and</strong> have neglected call men, or<br />

men who solicit clients over the telephone. To date there has not been<br />

any study that has tested call men for <strong>HIV</strong>, <strong>and</strong> none <strong>of</strong> the other studies<br />

included them in their samples. Any future work should consider call<br />

men as well as street workers.<br />

Studies that undertake to explore syringe sharing should take care in how<br />

questions are worded <strong>and</strong> attempt to find ways to overcome sex workers’<br />

reluctance to report unsafe injection practices. Simple screening<br />

questions will not be adequate. <strong>The</strong> author recommends that future<br />

research use indepth qualitative questions to explore the phenomena.<br />

NOTES<br />

1.<br />

2.<br />

In general, most male sex workers will take clients wherever they find<br />

them-in the street, in bars, at social gatherings, via<br />

advertisements-but most have some general modus oper<strong>and</strong>i that<br />

allows them to be categorized by the principal method they use to<br />

locate clients.<br />

Whenever differences are mentioned they will be statistically<br />

significant (at the .01 level). When differences are not significant,<br />

they will be designated as not statistically significant.<br />

128

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