AEGiS-14IAC: Sex Workers: are they an appropriate target group to be intervened for HIV/AIDS prevention programme?

14th International AIDS Conference


Barcelona, Spain - July 7-12, 2002

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Sex Workers: are they an appropriate target group to be intervened for HIV/AIDS prevention programme?

Int Conf AIDS 2002 Jul 7-12; 14:(abstract no. D11155)

Tampubolon LH
University, Jakarta, Indonesia

BACKGROUND: The inclusion of sex workers in the HIV/AIDS Prevention Programme is one strategy to respond to HIV/AIDS pandemic in Indonesia. Centre for Societal Development Studies (CSDS) Atma Jaya Catholic University funded by the Indonesia HIV/AIDS and STD Prevention and Care (AusAID) in 1998-1999 introduced a participatory approach to NGOs working with sex workers in three provinces in Indonesia.

METHODS: The concept of participation used by CSDS refers to empowering the sex workers and making them partners to NGOs who were working with them. Empowerment here means to provide the NGOs' field staff and the peer group of sex workers a capacity building on project design and management. In short, they were trained on how to write a project proposal.

RESULTS: Before the project proposal training, a series of meeting was conducted between CSDS and the NGOs staff, i.e. - one-day meeting in each province to introduce the project to the local stakeholders - a three-day workshop in Bali to assess NGOs' needs on training - Training of Trainer (TOT) in each province to provide skills to the local NGOs' field staff and peers of sex workers As the sex workers were not included since the beginning of the project, they loose a sense of belonging to the project and their level of participation was also low as they were tied to their works as sex workers. As a consequense, their role in the project was only on sharing information with NGOs staff.

CONCLUSIONS: NGOs' staff who were joined the project proposal training provided by CSDS had higher level of education than the sex workers. The impact of this gap was the dialogue between them not equal. In fact from many studies we know that participation requires equal partners to make them have equal dialogue.

Keywords: AEGIS, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, Prostitution, HIV Infections, HIV Seropositivity, Health Education, Demography, Indonesia, education, therapyKWDaegis,acquiredimmunodeficiencysyndrome,prostitution,hivinfections,hivseropositivity,healtheducation,demography,indonesia,education,therapy

020707
D11155

Copyright © 2002 - International AIDS Society (IAS). Reproduction of this abstract (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the IAS.