Heterosexual transmission of HIV in India is driven by the male use of female sex workers (FSW), but few studies have examined the factors associated with using FSW. This nationally representative study examined the prevalence and correlates of FSW use among 31,040 men aged 15–49 years in India in 2006. Nationally, about 4% of men used FSW in the previous year, representing about 8.5 million FSW clients.

Empower is a Thai sex worker organization started by Ms Chantawipa Apisuk, a group of sex workers and activists in Patpong, Bangkok’s in 1984.In 2010 Empower decided to undertake a nation-wide community research project to identify and document the impact of the current Thai anti-trafficking law, policy and practice, on sex workers in Thailand, and to develop relevant and achievable solutions. There were 206 Thai and migrant sex workers had become part of the RATS-W project; leading the research consultations, interviewing, giving expert testimony, investigating and undertaking the analysis and preliminary documentation. The 206 sex workers who worked on the project can be divided into 170 research partners; 36 research leaders coordinated by a research working team of four. They are all referred to herein as research leaders,research partners or sex workers interchangeably.

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More than 340 million cases of curable sexually transmitted infections (STIs) were estimated to have occurred worldwide in 1995. Previous studies have shown that the presence of other concomitant STIs increases the likelihood of HIV transmission. The first national study of STIs conducted in Pakistan in 2004 revealed a high burden of STIs among women selling sex.

People who buy and sell sex pose one of the high-risk behaviours for HIV exposure in Asia. It is therefore essential for HIV prevention interventions to take into account the nature of the Asian sex industry. The purpose of this booklet is twofold: 1. to summarize what researchers have learned about the epidemiology of HIV/AIDS within Asian com-mercial sex networks; and, 2. to discuss the programmatic impli-cations of those findings.

"Why you?” “Why this job?” – these are the questions which sexual service providers (SSP) are most commonly asked by male clients; it is as though the man, after being sexually serviced, cannot quite believe that a young woman like this could be doing sex work. The questions suppose that there are other choices open to these women other than sex work, and arguably, they imply at the same time that only certain types of woman do this work as it must be degrading to do so. This study attempts to address these presumptions and allows the reader to hear as it were, the answers (for there are many) to these questions. This study met 101 women from 12 different ethnicities, from 16 provinces in Laos and with 101 different experiences of life to relate.

The majority of sex work in India is clandestine due to unfavorable legal environment and discrimination against female sex workers (FSWs). We report data on who these women are and when they get involved with sex work that could assist in increasing the reach of HIV prevention activities for them.

National HIV serosurveillance data for Vietnam have indicated a steady increase in the prevalence of HIV. This trend has been particularly noticeable among injecting drug users (10.1% in 1996 to 32% in 2002) and female sex workers (FSWs) (0.6% in 1994 to 6.6% in 2002).

The prevalence of HIV/sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) was determined, the risk characteristics examined, and factors associated with HIV infection identified among noninstitutionalized female sex workers (FSWs), using a cross-sectional survey with 2-stage cluster sampling.

Sexual transmission is the fastest growing route of HIV transmission in China. We
undertook this study to describe the risk factors for HIV infection in female sex workers (FSWs), and to determine the commercial sex venues where FSWs are most at risk of being infected with or infecting others with HIV.

To generate knowledge on sexual risk behaviour and practices, condom use, STI symptoms and STI disease burden among youth clients of female sex workers in Dhaka.