https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5916-477X
Abstract
Background
There are many barriers for condom use, which was one of the most important methods to prevent the transmission of HIV among female sex workers. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to identify the barriers to condom use among female sex workers in Tehran, Iran.
Methods
This study was conducted with a qualitative approach and conventional content analysis among female sex workers in Tehran. Twenty-two female sex workers were selected through snowball sampling and purposive sampling. The data gathering method was a semi-structured interview and the data were analyzed using Graneheim and Lundman method. Guba and Lincoln criteria were used for evaluating research transferability.
Results
The results of data analysis were categorized in three categories and seven sub-categories included 1) individual factors (not knowing HIV/AIDS properly, anti-loyalty and love, and personality traits), 2) structural factors (partner’s desire, problems with condom availability), and 3) cultural factors (cultural taboos, following the models).
Conclusion
The results showed that lack of condom use is the consequence of different individual, structural, and cultural factors. So, it can be useful to take some initiatives at the individual level by raising awareness and understanding of female sex workers about HIV at the structural level by lowering the price of condoms and providing them extensively and at the societal level, by changing the beliefs and taboos about condoms.
Ethics Approval and Informed Consent
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. This study was approved by the Research Council of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences with the ethics code (IR.KUMS.REC. 1398.633). Participants were informed about the purpose and necessity of the research before the interview and written consent was obtained from all participants and included permission to take quotes from their interviews.
Author Contributions
All authors contributed to data analysis, drafting or revising the article, have agreed on the journal to which the article will be submitted, gave final approval of the version to be published, and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
Disclosure
The authors declare that they have no competing interests for this work.