Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. India is a country where the HIV epidemic is growing among women and intimate partner violence is pervasive. This study examined prevalence of and factors associated with forced sex among female sex workers FSWs in Chennai, India. We conducted a probability survey among FSWs in 24 slum venues and identified predictive factors for recent forced sex using univariate and multivariable proportional odds models.
Discussion about family violence with larger social networks was independently associated with lower odds of forced sex among FSWs. HIV interventions for FSWs and their clients aimed at reducing alcohol consumption and encouraging condom use could be enhanced by violence prevention interventions to facilitate discourse about sexual violence. In turn, women who have a greater number of sexual partners are more likely to experience sexual coercion [ 7 , 8 ].
Female sex workers FSWs , therefore, may be particularly vulnerable to sexual violence [ 9 β 11 ]. Zierler et al. In India, the prevalence of intimate partner violence IPV against women is particularly high. Certain individual factors including younger age, higher education, and higher household income appear to provide some measure of protection against sexual violence by intimate partners [ 15 , 20 β 26 ]. The presence of social networks can also be protective against IPV [ 27 , 28 ], while social isolation and depression are associated with increased rates of sexual coercion [ 29 , 30 ].
Among sex workers in India, non-brothel based sex workers are less likely to have social support and more likely to be at high risk for HIV compared to their brothel-based counterparts [ 31 ]. In addition to individual and social contexts that are protective against or associated with IPV, sexual violence has been linked to alcohol consumption by a woman or her sexual partner [ 32 β 38 ].
Alcohol can increase the incidence of IPV by affecting cognitive and physical functioning in a way that reduces self-control and leaves individuals less capable of negotiating a non-violent resolution to conflicts within relationships and by intensifying underlying stressors that create tension and conflict between partners [ 39 β 41 ].
