Sexual Risk Behaviors, Alcohol Abuse, and Intimate Partner Violence Among Sex Workers in Mongolia: Implications for HIV Prevention Intervention Development

Abstract

This study examines HIV/STI risk behaviors, alcohol abuse, intimate partner violence, and psychological distress among 48 female sex workers in Mongolia to inform the design of a gender-specific, HIV/STI prevention intervention for this population. Quantitative findings demonstrate that over 85% of women reported drinking alcohol at harmful levels; 70% reported using condoms inconsistently with any sexual partner; 83% reported using alcohol before engaging in sex with paying partners; and 38% reported high levels of depression. Focus group findings provide contextual support and narrative descriptions for the ways that poverty, alcohol abuse, interpersonal violence, and cultural norms that stigmatize and marginalize women are intertwined risk factors for STIs, including HIV, among these vulnerable women.

KEYWORDS:

• alcohol abuse
• HIV risk
• sex work
• sexually transmitted infections
• violence

This research was supported by Department of Health and Human Services Grant #R24-DA014001 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to Dr. Nabila El-Bassel.