Qualitative survey on survival status of female sex workers

  Objective   To realize the survival status of female sex workers, and provide information for carrying out effective measures of preventing STD/A IDS.

  Methods   Focus group discussion and in-depth individual interview were conducted in a sociological survey.90 and 91 female sex workers were surveyed through focus group discussion, and 135 and 136 female sex workers were surveyed through in-depth individual interview, respectively in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces.

  Results   Most of the female sex workess were aged from 18 to 30 and unmarried with lower level of education and lower socio-economic life status, and most of them were migrants; What they often mentiooed was making money, dressing up, playing and so on; The female sex workers seldomly intercommunicated experiences of how to serve clients, how to use condoms and how to prevent STD/A IDS among them; Mode of intercourse was mainly through vagina, and few of them insisted on using condoms in sex trade, and they had wrong knowledge about preventing STD/AIDS; There were drug users in the female sex workers, most of whom(4/5)used to share syinges with others.

  Conclusion   In health education for STD/AIDS, migrant workers and idle youth with lower level of education, should be served as intensive population.Wrong knowledge about preventing STD/AIDS among female sex workers should be rectified when offering them preventive knowledge about STD/AIDS.