Persuading, protesting and exchanging favours: strategies used by Indian sex workers to win local support for their HIV prevention programmes

Abstract

Given that the communities which are most vulnerable to HIV often have little control over their own lives and their health-related behaviour, HIV prevention policies increasingly recommend that HIV prevention projects work to build relationships with powerful external groups (i.e., build “bridging social capital”). To aid conceptualisation of how community organisations may build such social capital, this paper outlines a typology of strategies for influencing local stakeholders. We present a study of two successful Indian sex workers' organisations, VAMP and DMSC, focusing on how the organisations have influenced three groups of stakeholders, namely police, politicians and local social organisations. Interviews with project employees (45), with representatives of the three groups of stakeholders (12) and fieldwork diaries recording 6 months of observation in each site provide the data.

Three approaches emerged. “Persuading” refers to the practice of holding information-giving meetings with stakeholders and requesting their support. It appears to build “weak social ties”. “Protesting” entails a collective confrontation with stakeholders, and appears to be useful when the stakeholder has a public image to protect that would be tarnished by protest, and when the protestors can stake a legitimate claim that their rights are being denied. In “exchanging favours”, the sex workers' organisations find creative ways to position themselves as offering valued resources to their stakeholders (such as useful information on criminal activities for the police, a stage and audience for politicians or a celebration for local social organisations) as incentives for their support. In conclusion, we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each approach, the implications for social capital theorising and implications for community HIV prevention.

Keywords:

• sex workers
• India
• community mobilisation
• partnerships
• social capital
• HIV prevention

Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to VAMP, SANGRAM, DMSC, SHIP, and all of the research participants for their generosity in making space for us to conduct this research. The research reported in this paper was funded by a grant from the joint scheme of the ESRC and DfID (Research Grant Number RES-167-25-0193). The project was given ethical scrutiny by the Ethics Committee of Glasgow Caledonian University School of Nursing, Midwifery & Community Health, by DMSC's Ethical Review Board, and by the VAMP sex worker collective.

Thanks to Cathy Campbell, Rebecca Cassidy and three anonymous reviewers for very helpful comments on an earlier version. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors, and should not be taken to represent the views of any of the people or organisations who have supported us.

Notes

1. For more information, see http://www.durbar.org

2. See http://www.sangram.org