HIV Prevalence and Risk Behaviors Among African American Women Who Trade Sex for Drugs Versus Economic Resources

• Published in: AIDS and behavior Vol. 18; no. 7; pp. 1288 - 1292
• Main Authors: Dunne, Eugene M., Dyer, Typhanye Penniman, Khan, Maria R., Cavanaugh, Courtenay E., Melnikov, Alex, Latimer, William W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01.07.2014; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome; Adult; African Americans; Brief Report; Condoms; Drug Abuse; Drug use; Drugs; Economics; Female; Females; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Health Psychology; Health risks; Healthcare Disparities; HIV; HIV Seropositivity - epidemiology; HIV Seropositivity - psychology; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Infectious Diseases; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Prevalence; Public Health; Risk; Risk factors; Risk taking; Sex Work - ethnology; Sex Work - psychology; Sex Work - statistics & numerical data; Sexual behavior; Sexual Behavior - psychology; Sexual Behavior - statistics & numerical data; Sexual Partners; Sexually transmitted diseases; Shelters; STD; Substance Abuse, Intravenous - epidemiology; Substance Abuse, Intravenous - psychology; Trade; United States - epidemiology; Vulnerability; Vulnerable Populations; Women; Condom use; Disparities; HIV; Public health; Sex trade
• ISSN: 1090-7165; 1573-3254
• DOI: 10.1007/s10461-014-0710-6

Trading sex for money, drugs, goods, services, or a place to stay is prevalent among women who use drugs and has been associated with women’s risk of HIV acquisition. There is evidence that trading sex for drugs only may be associated with elevated risk of HIV compared with trading sex for money. The purpose of this study was to assess whether HIV risk behaviors and HIV prevalence differ among African American drug using women ( N  = 92) who traded sex for drugs only, traded sex for economic resources (defined as money, shelter, or other resources) only, or traded sex for both economic resources and drugs. In this study, lower rates of condom use and higher rates of HIV were found among women who traded sex for drugs only compared to women who traded sex for economic resources or for economic resources and drugs. These findings suggest that African American women who trade sex for drugs only represent an understudied yet highly vulnerable group.