This paper evaluates the role of female sex worker (FSW) collectives in the state of Karnataka, India, regarding their facilitating effect in increasing knowledge and promoting change towards safer sexual behaviour. In 2002 a state-wide survey of FSWs was administered to a stratified sample of 1,512 women. Following the survey, a collectivization index was developed to measure the degree of involvement of FSWs in collective-related activities. The results indicate that a higher degree of collectivization was associated with increased knowledge and higher reported condom use. Reported condom use was higher with commercial clients than with regular partners or husbands among all women and a gradient was observed in most outcome variables between women with low, medium and high collectivization index scores. Collectivization seems to have a positive impact in increasing knowledge and in empowering FSWs in Karnataka to adopt safer sex practices, particularly with commercial clients. While these results are encouraging, they may be confounded by social desirability, selection and other biases. More longitudinal and qualitative studies are required to better understand the nature of sex worker collectives and the benefits that they can provide.

The existence of a wide network of labour contractors and a structured infrastructure of the contract system provides opportunities for effective and sustained worksite HIV prevention programmes among contracted male migrant workers in India.

Recent Canadian immigrants have increasing education levels but decreasing earnings, partly due to the devaluation of foreign education and work experience. This study uses 2002 Ethnic Diversity Survey data and examines the value attributed to foreign education for immigrants based on their duration of stay in Canada, which proves to be an important methodological distinction. Immigrants from developing countries experience the most acute devaluation. The findings outline the limitations of human capital theory in explaining the labor market experience of Canadian immigrants and have implications for the current “point system” used to select immigrants to Canada.

This paper examines the relationship between indicators of mobility, socio-economic vulnerabilities, and HIV risk behaviours among 5,498 mobile female sex workers (FSWs) living in the four high HIV prevalence states in India. Female sex workers with greater degree of mobility reported significantly more often than the FSWs with lesser degree of mobility that they experienced physical violence, and consumed alcohol prior to sex. Further, FSWs with greater degree of mobility reported significantly more often than the FSWs with lesser degree of mobility that they had inconsistent condom use in sex with clients, even after controlling for several demographic characteristics and socio-economic vulnerabilities including experiences of violence. Additionally, short duration visits and visit to the Jatra (religious fairs) places found to have significant association with their inconsistent condom use in sex with clients as well as continuation of sex despite having STI symptoms. These findings suggest the need for screening FSWs for higher degree of mobility and to mobilize them to form community networks so as to deal with violence, reduce alcohol use and promote consistent condom use along the routes of mobility. HIV prevention interventions aimed at FSWs require an increased attention to address the socio-economic vulnerabilities including alcohol use, with particular emphasis on those FSWs who are on the move in India and elsewhere.

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The proposed typology identifies street to lodge FSWs as being at particularly high risk, which was obscured by the existing typology that distinguishes between FSWs based on place of solicitation alone.

There is a widespread assumption in Northern Karnataka, India that HIV transmission is due to the large volume of male seasonal labour out-migration. In order to examine this issue, an ethnographic study was conducted in one of the Northern Karnataka districts using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. Findings indicate that migration does not seem to be a key factor affecting sexual behaviour among married men. Nearly 35% of married migrant men reported being involved in extramarital sex and 40% of unmarried migrant men were involved in premarital sex. While earlier in the epidemic there was a strong correlation between HIV infection and migration, more recently the correlation seems to be getting weaker. More innovative HIV prevention programmes which take into account the social and cultural characteristics of this region are urgently needed to curtail the rapid development of the epidemic.

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