Search

Background: Globally, street-involved children and youth (SICY) who work and live on/of the streets are at higher risk of increased psychoactive substances and injecting drug use. Objectives: The present study aimed to identify the prevalence, distribution, sociodemographic factors, and risk-taking behaviors associated with psychoactive substances and injecting drug use among SICY. Methods: Studies in English published from December 1 1985 to July 1 2022, were searched for on PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane, and Web of Science to identify primary studies on psychoactive substances and injecting drug use among SICY. The pooled-prevalence estimates were obtained using a robust fixed-effects model. Results: The most commonly reported life-time and current psychoactive substance was tobacco followed by cannabis, LSD/ecstasy, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and injection drug use. The results showed that life-time and current prevalence of methamphetamine and cannabis use, as well as life-time prevalence of cocaine, LSD/ecstasy, heroin, tobacco, and injecting drug use increased as age rose while current prevalence of cocaine and tobacco use decreased as age rose. SICY who were male, homeless, had parents who had died, had history of substance use among family members or best friends, had experienced violence, had casual sex partners, had a history of working in the sex trade, and had unprotected sex were all related to psychoactive substance use and injecting drug use. Conclusions: Research examining this population suffers from lack of studies, therefore, improving the knowledge for interventions aimed at reducing risk behaviors, particularly those related to the transmission of sexually transmitted infections such as HIV is of great importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trafficking of women is a serious global concern today that threatens many women's lives and security and violates their rights and dignity. This represents a cross-border criminal trade, mainly for the purpose of marketable sexual exploitation. India has rampant and widespread trafficking of women and comprehensive studies are required to assess its dynamics for prevention. This paper attempts a study of the spatio-temporal variations of women's trafficking in India from 2001 to 2015. It also seeks to identify underlying factors in its regional variations in the study period and highlights possible strategies for combating it. In spite of its persistence, the absolute numbers of trafficked women show a decreasing trend during this period. Historical tradition, socio-economic deprivation and cultural rigidity are major contributing factors in its regional variations. Awareness generation and empowerment of women are considered to play key roles for eradicating it apart from enforcement of legal provisions and active involvement by NGOs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The attitudes of others towards individuals who sell sex (ISS) can have a significant impact on how the population is treated in interpersonal interactions and social systems. The current study outlines the development and validation of Attitudes Towards Individuals Who Sell Sex Inventory (ATISS), an instrument designed to reliably and validly assess attitudes towards ISS. The authors present three studies outlining the development and validation of the ATISS. Study 1 revealed a four-factor structure across 21 items including social distance, human value, impact on society, and parenting. Study 2a and 2b revealed sufficient construct, convergent, and discriminant validity for the ATISS including adequate test-retest reliability. Findings indicate that the ATISS is a psychometrically sound instrument to measure attitudes towards ISS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Results from an evaluation of a juvenile human trafficking court are presented to explore the ways in which tensions between (a) human trafficking rhetoric, (b) a legal framework that cannot resolve the conflict inherent in the victim-delinquent identity required by Safe Harbor legislation, and (c) the lived experiences of youth in the program do not support youth actually quitting the sex trade. Practical hurdles to implementation of the program are also discussed, and recommendations on how other jurisdictions might approach the issue are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In South Africa, gender-based violence and sexual assault is widespread. Poverty, particularly amongst black women, is also rife. Women selling sex on the street are at greatest risk for adverse health outcomes, violence and poverty. This study sought to explore the challenges faced by women attempting to exit the street-based sex trade. Two focus groups, a total of 21 black women, were conducted. These groups were recorded, transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. The emerging themes exemplified a general sense of disempowerment and highlighted needs for exit. Context-specific requirements need to be elucidated for the development of successful exit interventions and policy reform. Further research should focus on the issue of decriminalization, empowerment and consciousnessraising in order to truly understand the relative harms to health in diverse contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the socio-structural sexual health risks of female youth (aged 14–17) working in bar/spa venues and brothels in the Philippines, compared to their older counterparts. Aside from this study, few female sex work studies have interviewed youth under 18. On four southern Philippines islands, 770 female sex workers (FSWs), aged 14–48, were recruited from bar/spa venues and brothels to participate in a socio-structural HIV prevention study. Controlling for the effects of a larger HIV prevention intervention study involving 1484 female bar/spa workers, the minors, compared to older FSWs, had less education (AOR: 0.81, CI: 0.70–0.94), less children (AOR: 0.19, CI: 0.10–0.37), and were more likely to work in illegal brothels (AOR: 4.60, CI: 1.66–12.75) and to be high on drugs during sex (AOR: 2.26, CI: 1.39–3.67). It was less likely that anyone talked to them about HIV prevention (AOR: 0.32, CI: 0.15–0.72), but more likely they were recruited by venue owners (AOR: 5.67, 1.56–20.56) and were told by their managers to have sex without a condom (AOR: 6.80, CI: 2.06–22.39). Results suggest a need for organizational and policy level interventions to protect adolescent females from working in unsafe environments in the Philippines and to prevent youth from being recruited into high-risk situations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines resilience and coping behaviours of adolescent girls from rural Indramayu (West Java) who entered (but also resisted entering) the sex trade. It explores how they perceive and experience oppression, and pinpoints aspects of their agency in the face of dire circumstances. It argues that the tendency to categorise minors in the sex trade as a homogeneous social group of victims whose agency is entirely effaced obscures better understanding of their real-life circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The current study examined the relationship between poly-substance use and sex trade among 343 black South African substance users recruited from the Pretoria region between 2002 and 2006 (57% males; mean age 24 years). The assessment comprised a HIV-risk behavior interview, urinalysis to confirm self-report of drug use, and an HIV test. Logistic regression analyses indicated poly-substance use was positively associated with sex trade among persons using drugs to cope with stress. Results indicate the importance of considering coping strategies as modifiable psychosocial factor related to sexual risk-taking behaviors and substance use. The study's implications and limitations are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives To describe the many forms of gender-based violence and their consequences for society and women's health, focusing on various aspects of the problem, including harassment, stalking, incapacitated rape and war-related violence. Methods For each main area a search was made using PubMed, Medline, ScienceDirect, Scopus, classic books, Google and religious websites. The most relevant publications were then utilised for preparing the manuscript. Results Gender-based violence persists worldwide in spite of efforts by many governments and international organisations to quench it. Men continue to exercise dominance over women, often their own or prospective partners or dates. Abuses are physical, psychological or verbal; they all aim at subduing women. Those that occur during pregnancy are associated with an increased risk of adverse outcomes. Acts of violence can take the form of aggression, coercion, harassment or trafficking; are often committed against minors; may be prompted by an ill-conceived need to defend the family honour and be widespread during armed conflicts. Conclusions Men's violent sexual behaviour has often been interpreted as a consequence of blind sexual drive. Today, however, aggressive behaviour is considered to be sensitive to and influenced by environmental cues. Eradication is possible and efforts to eliminate gender-based violence should be intensified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that while the prostitution policies of the Irish state have changed over a long time from an unambiguous prohibitionism towards a partial abolitionism, overall policy is characterised by inconsistency and contradictions and legal changes have occurred outside of a comprehensive policy review. As Ireland is integrated into a globalised sex industry, with a consequent restructuring of the vice trade, prostitution itself may remain largely beyond the reach of the state, or, policy resistant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examines the violence and change in violence experienced by domestically sex trafficked women from their pimps since their recruitment. A total of 100 women who currently had a pimp were interviewed, and 71 indicated that they had been recruited into prostitution, many under conditions meeting the federal definition of trafficking. Violence and coercive control were measured at 2 different points for each woman and compared separately and together. On average, violence had increased since recruitment, and those women who experienced more forms of coercive control generally experienced higher levels of violence from their pimps. The majority of women experienced violence and coercion, thereby meeting federal sex trafficking definitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout the world, prostitution creates a societal dilemma; Taiwan and Thailand are especially affected by the prevalence of such sex workers. While much has been written about prostitution, it has seldom been addressed from a national HRD (NHRD) perspective. This paper addresses reasons why prostitution is so prevalent; the extent of prostitution in these two countries; past NHRD efforts in this arena; and recommendations for NHRD policy, practice and future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Canada's prostitution laws are under scrutiny, and there has been growing debate about the optimal strategies for reducing the harms associated with prostitution. Methods: We evaluated whether sex trade involvement was associated with elevated HIV incidence in a cohort of injection drug users. HIV incidence rates were calculated using Kaplan-Meier methods and Cox proportional hazards regression. Results: At 48 months after enrolment, the rate of HIV was 11.7% among those who did not report baseline sex trade involvement compared to 16.7% among those who did (p = 0.049). The elevated HIV infection rate associated with sex trade involvement was also observed in a Cox model that considered sex trade involvement as a time-updated covariate (relative hazard = 1.51 [95% CI: 1.02-2.25]). Interpretation: These findings should be useful to those currently considering the optimal legal framework for addressing the community and health related harms associated with prostitution in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Christian apocalypticism has found renewal among contemporary theologians and political figures. Within the narrative, the Whore of Babylon, (Revelation 17: 1-18, 18:1-8) is condemned and brutally destroyed as the embodiment of evil. The Whore of Babylon metaphor raises several questions. How liberative can a reclamation of this apocalyptic source be for women marginalized by their participation in sex trades'? How does the critique of independent women sanction violence against women who do not comply with a docile model of womanhood? When the "good" are given permission to destroy "evil," are notions of justice and self-determination lost? What gives United States' political leaders license to claim that they can identity "good" and "evil" with such precision that destruction at their hands rises to a level of a "divine mandate?" The article evaluates the positions of selected feminist and liberationist scholars and asks whether the permission to destroy given in Revelation is in fact dangerous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]