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Health Education Research Advance Access originally published online on March 14, 2007
Health Education Research 2008 23(1):137-145; doi:10.1093/her/cym011
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© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Community development and HIV/STI-related vulnerability among female sex workers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Deanna Kerrigan1,*, Paulo Telles2, Helena Torres2, Cheryl Overs3 and Christopher Castle4

1 Department of International Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, 615 North Wolfe Street, Room E5523A, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
2 State University of Rio de Janeiro, Rua Fonseca Teles 121, 4 Andar, Sao Cristovao, Rio de Janeiro RJ 20940, Brazil
3 Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP), The Stableyard, Broomgrove Road, SW9 9TZ London, UK
4 United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 7, Place de Fontenoy, 75352, Paris 07 SP, France

* Correspondence to: D. Kerrigan. E-mail: dkerriga{at}jhsph.edu

The Sonagachi Project of Kolkata, India has been recognized as a model community development and human immunodeficiency virus/sexually transmitted infection (HIV/STI) prevention intervention among female sex workers. Limited research has been conducted regarding its applicability outside the South Asian context. This study sought to document the process and effectiveness of integrating community development activities based on the Sonagachi model into an ongoing HIV/STI peer education program with female sex workers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Structured cross-sectional surveys examining HIV/STI-related behaviors and community development measures were conducted among ~500 sex workers at pre- and post-intervention. We found that several community development components including social cohesion and mutual aid were significantly associated with consistent condom use among sex workers and their paying clients at pre-intervention. However, only a minority of women actively engaged in community-building activities over the 18-month study period. In turn, limited changes in community development components and no significant increases in the HIV/STI-related protective behaviors assessed were documented. Findings indicate that internalized stigma and socioeconomic pressures may have constrained the scope and pace of community mobilization in this setting during the study observation period.

Received on July 31, 2006; accepted on January 14, 2007


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