Abstract
Objectives
This study evaluated a brief human rights-focused HIV community mobilization intervention for sex workers in the Philippines, a country with one of the fastest rising number of HIV cases worldwide.
Methods
Five single-session group interventions to reduce sexual risk and increase HIV testing among 86 sex workers in Manila were evaluated with pre–post-test data via Wilcoxon’s signed-ranks and Mann–Whitney tests. The 4-h intervention, Kapihan (August–November, 2013), integrated human rights with HIV skill-building. Demographic data, violence/trafficking victimization, human rights knowledge, and intentions to HIV test and treat were collected.
Results
Participants were median aged 23; female (69 %); had children (55; 22 % had 3+ children); used drugs (past 3 months: 16 %); sexually/physically abused by clients (66 %); 20 % street sex workers ever took an HIV test. Pre–post-test scores significantly improved in knowledge of HIV (z = −8.895, p < 0.001), reproductive health (z = −3.850, p < 0.001), human rights (z = −4.391, p < 0.001), ethical rights of research participants (z = −5.081, p < 0.001), and intentions to HIV test (z = −4.868, p < 0.001).
Conclusions
Integrating human rights into HIV interventions may empower sex workers to address their health and human rights and test for HIV.
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Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge Josefina Pavico (Pinoy Competence and the Center for Environment and Sustainable Development Foundation, Inc.) and Jay Caparida, Junelyn Tabelin, and other Peer Educators Movement for Empowerment (Peer Ed ME) Pasay, Manila, Caloocan, and Quezon City (PAMACQ) members for their work on this project. The authors also acknowledge Dr. Donald E. Morisky for his early guidance on conducting research with this population in the Philippines. This project was supported by the Fordham University HIV and Drug Abuse Prevention Research Ethics Training Institute Research supported by NIDA Grant #1R25 DA031608-01 (Celia B. Fisher, Ph.D., Principal Investigator), the National Institutes of Drug Abuse (T32DA023356, R01DA028692-04S1; K01DA036439 PI: Urada), and the University of California Los Angeles International Institute.
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All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Ethical approval
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Funding
This study was funded by the Fordham University HIV and Drug Abuse Prevention Research Ethics Training Institute Research supported by National Institutes of Drug Abuse Grant #1R25 DA031608-01 (Celia B. Fisher, Ph.D., Principal Investigator), the National Institutes of Drug Abuse (Grant Number T32DA023356; R01DA028692-04S1; K01DA036439 PI: Urada), and the University of California Los Angeles International Institute.
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This article is part of the special issue “Violence and Health: Implications of the 2030 Agenda for South-North Collaboration”.
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Urada, L.A., Simmons, J., Wong, B. et al. A human rights-focused HIV intervention for sex workers in Metro Manila, Philippines: evaluation of effects in a quantitative pilot study. Int J Public Health 61, 945–957 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-016-0875-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-016-0875-z