Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. To describe the characteristics of sex workers accessing care at a peer based clinic in San Francisco and to evaluate predictors of sexually transmitted infections STI. We conducted an observational study of sex workers at St James Infirmary.
Individuals underwent an initial questionnaire, and we offered screening for STI at each clinic visit. We performed univariate, bivariate, and multivariable analyses to assess for predictors of STI in this population. We saw sex workers identifying as female Participants represented a wide range of ethnicities, educational backgrounds, and types of sex work.
The most common substance used was tobacco Over half reported domestic violence, and Those screened had gonorrhoea In contrast, participants who had only ever engaged in collective sex work were less likely to have an STI OR 0. The majority of sex workers have never discussed their work with a medical provider. Domestic violence is extremely prevalent as is work related violence. Working with other sex workers appears to be protective of STIs.
Addressing violence in the workplace and encouraging sex workers to work collectively may be effective prevention strategies. Keywords: sex work, sexually transmitted diseases, drug use, transgender health, violence.
The clinic uses a harm reduction approach, with an emphasis on engaging sex workers in addition to identifying and reducing the individual and community level risks associated with sex work. Additionally, clinic staff distributes safer sex supplies and offers HIV testing to sex workers in the setting of street and venue based outreach. Since September , we have been conducting an ongoing, prospective evaluation of all individuals accessing care at SJI.
