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What Kinds of Workshops do Internet-Based Male Escorts Want? Implications for Prevention and Health Promotion

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Abstract

There has been limited research on the types of programs that male-for-male escorts would want for themselves. In 2013, 418 Internet-based male escorts completed an online survey. Participants were presented with a description of an ongoing outreach program for male sex workers called “Rent University” and asked to select workshop topics that they would be interested in (from a list of 14). Participants selected, on average, six workshops. The most commonly selected workshops centered around enhancing one’s career/wealth as an escort (e.g., “Attracting the ‘right’ clients and keeping them” 65.0 %, “Escorting and legal matters” 64.0 %, “How best to market yourself online” 62.7 %, “Financial planning and planning for the future” 52.7 %). More often than not, demographic characteristics were unassociated with selecting individual topics. Being younger, having less than a college degree, being gay identified, and having used club drugs in the past 12 months were associated with expressing interest in a greater number of workshops. Those seeking to provide such services might be well served to ensure that materials are at an appropriate reading level and culturally acceptable for younger, gay-identified men.

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Acknowledgments

This study was the result from the collaborations between the researchers, Hook (hook-online.com), and Rentboy.com. It would not have been possible without the input from the Board of Directors at Hook, the generous free advertising from Rentboy, and the men who participated in this study. Finally, special thanks to the research team at CHEST for their assistance in developing and programming the online survey.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health and Nutrition Sciences, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York (CUNY), 2900 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, 11210, USA

    Christian Grov

  2. Department of Social Sciences, University of Puerto Rico-School of Public Health, San Juan, Puerto Rico

    Carlos E. Rodríguez-Díaz

  3. URL: www.melissaditmore.com, ᅟ

    Melissa H. Ditmore

  4. Center for HIV/AIDS Educational Studies and Training (CHEST), New York, NY, USA

    Christian Grov, Arjee Restar & Jeffrey T. Parsons

  5. Doctoral Program in Public Health, The Graduate Center of CUNY, Brooklyn, NY, USA

    Christian Grov & Jeffrey T. Parsons

  6. Basic and Applied Social Psychology Doctoral Program, The Graduate Center of CUNY, New York, NY, USA

    Jeffrey T. Parsons

  7. Health Psychology Doctoral Program, The Graduate Center of CUNY, New York, NY, USA

    Jeffrey T. Parsons

  8. Department of Psychology, Hunter College of CUNY, New York, NY, USA

    Jeffrey T. Parsons

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  1. Christian Grov
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  2. Carlos E. Rodríguez-Díaz
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  3. Melissa H. Ditmore
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  4. Arjee Restar
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  5. Jeffrey T. Parsons
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Correspondence to Christian Grov.

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Grov, C., Rodríguez-Díaz, C.E., Ditmore, M.H. et al. What Kinds of Workshops do Internet-Based Male Escorts Want? Implications for Prevention and Health Promotion. Sex Res Soc Policy 11, 176–185 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-014-0151-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-014-0151-z

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