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      Prevalence and Correlates of Sexual Violence Experienced by Female Sex Workers in Iran: Results from a National HIV Bio-Behavioral Surveillance Survey

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          Abstract

          Sexual violence increases the risk of adverse health outcomes among female sex workers (FSWs). Using data from the 2015 national bio-behavioral survey, we explored the experience of sexual violence and its associated factors among Iranian FSWs. Lifetime and recent sexual violence were reported by 40.1% and 16.9%, respectively. History of substance use, ever engaging in anal sex, engaging in group sex within the last year, a high number of clients, recent unstable housing, and incarceration increased the likelihood of experiencing recent sexual violence. These findings underscore the need for community-empowerment and policy-level interventions to address violence among FSWs in Iran.

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          A modified poisson regression approach to prospective studies with binary data.

          G Zou (2004)
          Relative risk is usually the parameter of interest in epidemiologic and medical studies. In this paper, the author proposes a modified Poisson regression approach (i.e., Poisson regression with a robust error variance) to estimate this effect measure directly. A simple 2-by-2 table is used to justify the validity of this approach. Results from a limited simulation study indicate that this approach is very reliable even with total sample sizes as small as 100. The method is illustrated with two data sets.
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            Global epidemiology of HIV among female sex workers: influence of structural determinants.

            Female sex workers (FSWs) bear a disproportionately large burden of HIV infection worldwide. Despite decades of research and programme activity, the epidemiology of HIV and the role that structural determinants have in mitigating or potentiating HIV epidemics and access to care for FSWs is poorly understood. We reviewed available published data for HIV prevalence and incidence, condom use, and structural determinants among this group. Only 87 (43%) of 204 unique studies reviewed explicitly examined structural determinants of HIV. Most studies were from Asia, with few from areas with a heavy burden of HIV such as sub-Saharan Africa, Russia, and eastern Europe. To further explore the potential effect of structural determinants on the course of epidemics, we used a deterministic transmission model to simulate potential HIV infections averted through structural changes in regions with concentrated and generalised epidemics, and high HIV prevalence among FSWs. This modelling suggested that elimination of sexual violence alone could avert 17% of HIV infections in Kenya (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 1-31) and 20% in Canada (95% UI 3-39) through its immediate and sustained effect on non-condom use) among FSWs and their clients in the next decade. In Kenya, scaling up of access to antiretroviral therapy among FSWs and their clients to meet WHO eligibility of a CD4 cell count of less than 500 cells per μL could avert 34% (95% UI 25-42) of infections and even modest coverage of sex worker-led outreach could avert 20% (95% UI 8-36) of infections in the next decade. Decriminalisation of sex work would have the greatest effect on the course of HIV epidemics across all settings, averting 33-46% of HIV infections in the next decade. Multipronged structural and community-led interventions are crucial to increase access to prevention and treatment and to promote human rights for FSWs worldwide.
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              Prevalence and structural correlates of gender based violence among a prospective cohort of female sex workers

              Objective To examine the prevalence and structural correlates of gender based violence against female sex workers in an environment of criminalised prostitution. Design Prospective observational study. Setting Vancouver, Canada during 2006-8. Participants Female sex workers 14 years of age or older (inclusive of transgender women) who used illicit drugs (excluding marijuana) and engaged in street level sex work. Main outcome measure Self reported gender based violence. Results Of 267 female sex workers invited to participate, 251 women returned to the study office and consented to participate (response rate of 94%). Analyses were based on 237 female sex workers who completed a baseline visit and at least one follow-up visit. Of these 237 female sex workers, 57% experienced gender based violence over an 18 month follow-up period. In multivariate models adjusted for individual and interpersonal risk practices, the following structural factors were independently correlated with violence against female sex workers: homelessness (adjusted odds ratio for physical violence (aORphysicalviolence) 2.14, 95% confidence interval 1.34 to 3.43; adjusted odds ratio for rape (aORrape) 1.73, 1.09 to 3.12); inability to access drug treatment (adjusted odds ratio for client violence (aORclientviolence) 2.13, 1.26 to 3.62; aORphysicalviolence 1.96, 1.03 to 3.43); servicing clients in cars or public spaces (aORclientviolence 1.50, 1.08 to 2.57); prior assault by police (aORclientviolence 3.45, 1.98 to 6.02; aORrape 2.61, 1.32 to 5.16); confiscation of drug use paraphernalia by police without arrest (aORphysicalviolence 1.50, 1.02 to 2.41); and moving working areas away from main streets owing to policing (aORclientviolence 2.13, 1.26 to 3.62). Conclusions Our results demonstrate an alarming prevalence of gender based violence against female sex workers. The structural factors of criminalisation, homelessness, and poor availability of drug treatment independently correlated with gender based violence against street based female sex workers. Socio-legal policy reforms, improved access to housing and drug treatment, and scale up of violence prevention efforts, including police-sex worker partnerships, will be crucial to stemming violence against female sex workers.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Violence Against Women
                Violence Against Women
                VAW
                spvaw
                Violence against Women
                SAGE Publications (Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA )
                1077-8012
                1552-8448
                31 May 2021
                March 2022
                : 28
                : 3-4
                : 872-889
                Affiliations
                [1 ]HIV/STI Surveillance Research Center, and WHO Collaborating Center for HIV Surveillance, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
                [2 ]The Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
                [3 ]Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Institute for Global Health Sciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
                [4 ]School of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
                [5 ]Social Determinants of Health Research Centre, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
                [6 ]Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
                Author notes
                [*]Mostafa Shokoohi, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, 155 College St., Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5T 3M7. Email: shokoohi.mostafa2@ 123456gmail.com
                Author information
                https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3810-752X
                Article
                10.1177_10778012211008992
                10.1177/10778012211008992
                8785289
                34057851
                303d64b0-0710-41d9-9037-4d5290a5e8e4
                © The Author(s) 2021

                This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages ( https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

                History
                Funding
                Funded by: the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria through UNDP Iran, ;
                Categories
                Research Articles
                Custom metadata
                ts19

                female sex workers,violence,social determinants of health,iran

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