Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Sex Work

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Understanding the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the United States

Part of the book series: Social Disparities in Health and Health Care ((SDHHC))

  • 568 Accesses

Abstract

In this chapter, we provide an overview of the literature on sex work as it relates to HIV/AIDS and syndemic theory. When viewed through the lens of syndemic theory, AIDS is not a simple disease category, but a complex collaboration of factors, forces, environments, and behaviors. Proponents of syndemic theory often stress the structural or social determinants of both behavior and risk that contribute to disease outcomes such as HIV/AIDS. However, many researchers equally emphasize the role of agency in the lives of sex workers, seeing empowerment over the conditions of work as a fundamental necessity in reducing risks and improving the health of sex workers. We maintain that these are not mutually exclusive positions. When viewed closely, using ethnographic methods, sex work emerges not as a stable category of either structurally determined risk or individually chosen behavior, but as an apparently contradictory but self‐sustaining paradox: a structural feature of patriarchal societies and a rational adaptation of intelligent actors who actively seek to limit risk and maximize opportunity. Syndemic theory not only complicates our conceptualizations of risk and causality; it also provides a potential bridge beyond the false dichotomy of structure and agency.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Adam, B. D. (2011) Epistemic fault lines in biomedical and social approaches to HIV prevention. Journal of the International AIDS Society, 14(Suppl 2), 52. doi:10.1186/1758‐2652‐14‐S2‐S2.

    Google Scholar 

  • Archer, M. S. (2004). Being human: The problem of agency. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baral, S., Beyrer, C., Muessig, K., Poteat, T., Wirtz, A. L., Decker, M. R., et al. (2012). Burden of HIV among female sex workers in low-income and middle-income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 12(7), 538–549.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biello, K. B., Colby, D., Closson, E., & Mimiaga, M. J. (2014). The syndemic condition of psychosocial problems and HIV risk among male sex workers in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. AIDS and Behavior, 18(7), 1264–1271.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Byrne, D., & Callaghan, G. (2013). Complexity theory and the social sciences: The state of the art. Oxon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2013). HIV risk among adult sex workers in the United States. Retrieved December 27, 2014, from http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pdf/library_factsheet_HIV_among_sex_workers.pdf.

  • Das, P., & Horton, R. (2014). Bringing sex workers to the centre of the HIV response. The Lancet, published online July 22. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61064-3.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeLanda, M. (2006). A new philosophy of society: Assemblage theory and social complexity. London: Continuum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deleuze, G., & Guattari, F. (1987). A thousand plateaus: Capitalism and schizophrenia. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dewey, S., & Heineman, J. (2013). Between research and activism: Identifying pathways to inclusive research. In S. Dewey & T. Zheng (Eds.), Ethical research with sex workers (pp. 57–100). Heidelberg: Springer, Heidelberg.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Dewey, S., & Kelly, P. (2011). Introduction: Sex work and the politics of public policy. In S. Dewey & P. Kelly (Eds.), Policing pleasure: Sex work, policy and the state in global perspective (pp. 1–15). New York: New York University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Ditmore, M. (2007). In Calcutta, sex workers organize. In P. T. Clough & J. Halley (Eds.), The affective turn: Theorizing the social (pp. 170–186). Durham: Duke University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Draus, P. J., & Carlson, R. G. (2009). The game turns on you: Crack, sex, gender and power in small town Ohio. The Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 38(3), 384–408.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Draus, P. J., Roddy, J. K., & Asabigi, K. (2014). Making sense of the transition from the Detroit streets to drug treatment. Qualitative Health Research, 25(2), 228–240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Draus, P. J., Roddy, J. K., & Asabigi K. (2015). Streets, strolls and spots: Sex work, drug use and social space in Detroit. International Journal of Drug Policy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Farmer, P. E., Nizeye, B., Stulac, S., & Keshavjee, S. (2006). Structural violence and clinical medicine. PLoS Med, 3(10), 1686–1691.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freudenberg, N., Fahs, M., Galea, S., & Greenberg, A. (2006). The impact of New York City’s 1975 fiscal crisis on the tuberculosis, HIV, and homicide syndemic. American Journal of Public Health, 96(3), 424–434.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gallo, R. C. (2006). A reflection on HIV/AIDS research after 25 years. Retrovirology, 3(72), published online October 30. doi:10.1186/1742‐4690‐3‐72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilman, S. (1987). AIDS and syphilis: The iconography of disease. October, 43, 87–107.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldenberg, S. M., Strathdee, S. A., Gallardo, M., Nguyen, L., Lozada, R., Semple, S., et al. (2011a). How important are venue-based HIV risks among male clients of female sex workers? A mixed methods analysis of the risk environment in nightlife venues in Tijuana, Mexico. Health & Place, 17(3), 748–756.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldenberg, S. M., Strathdee, S. A., Gallardo, M., Rhodes, T., Wagner, K. D., & Patterson, T. L. (2011b). “Over here, it’s just drugs, women and all the madness”: The HIV risk environment of clients of female sex workers in Tijuana, Mexico. Social Science and Medicine, 72, 1185–1192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Inciardi, J. A., Surratt, H. L., & Kurtz, S. P. (2006). HIV, HBV, and HCV infections among drug-involved, inner-city, street sex workers in Miami, Florida. AIDS and Behavior, 10, 139–147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Institute of Medicine, Committee on Substance Abuse. (1994). AIDS and behavior: An integrated approach. Washington, DC, U.S.: National Academies Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Izugbara, C. (2011). “Hata watufnyeje, kazi itaendelea”: Everyday negotiations of state regulation among female sex workers in Nairobi, Kenya. In S. Dewey & P. Kelly (Eds.), Policing pleasure: Sex work, policy and the state in global perspective (pp. 115–129). New York: New York University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Jeffrey, L. A., & MacDonald, G. (2006). “It’s the money, honey”: The economy of sex work in the Maritimes. The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, 43(3), 313–327.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krusi, A., Chettiar, J., Ridgway, A., Abbot, J., Strathdee, S. A., & Shannon, K. (2012). Negotiating safety and sexual risk reduction with clients in unsanctioned safer indoor sex work environments: A qualitative study. American Journal of Public Health, 102(6), 1154–1159.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Link, B. G., & Phelan, J. C. (2005). Fundamental sources of health inequalities. Policy Challenges in Modern Health Care, 71–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Little, D. (2012). Understanding society. Retrieved 1 January 2015, from http://understandingsociety.blogspot.com/2012/11/assemblage-theory.html.

  • McKim, A. (2008). “Getting gut-level”: Punishment, gender, and therapeutic governance. Gender & Society, 22(3), 303–323.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Magar, V. (2012). Rescue and rehabilitation: A critical analysis of sex workers’ anti-trafficking response in India. Signs, 37(3), 619–644.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morison, L. (2001). The global epidemiology of HIV/AIDS. British Medical Bulletin, 58(1), 7–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ostrach, B., & Singer, M. (2012). At special risk: Biopolitical vulnerability and HIV/STI syndemics among women. Health Sociology Review, 21(3), 258–271.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Overall, C. (1992). What’s wrong with prostitution? Evaluating sex work. Signs, 17(4), 705–724.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Overs, C., & Loff, B. (2012). The tide cannot be turned without us: Sex workers and the global response to HIV. Journal of the International AIDS Society, 16(1), 1–6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paone, D., Cooper, H., Alperen, J., Shi, Q., & Des Jarlais, D. C. (1999). HIV risk behaviours of current sex workers attending syringe exchange: The experiences of women in five US cities. AIDS Care: Psychological and Socio-medical Aspects of AIDS/HIV, 11(3), 269–280.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piot, P., Bartos, M., Larson, H., Zewdie, D., & Mane, P. (2008). Coming to terms with complexity: A call to action for HIV prevention. The Lancet, 372, 845–859.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pupavac, V. (2001). Therapeutic governance: Psycho-social intervention and trauma risk management. Disasters, 25(4), 358–372.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rhodes, T. (2009). Risk environments and drug harms: A social science for harm reduction. International Journal of Drug Policy, 20, 193–201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rubin, G. (1975). The traffic in women: Notes on the “political economy” of sex. In R. R. Reiter (Ed.), Toward an anthropology of women (pp. 157–210). New York: Monthly Review Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanchez, L. E. (1997). Boundaries of legitimacy: Sex, violence, citizenship and community in a local sex economy. Law & Social Inquiry, 22(3), 543–580.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shahmanesh, M., Wayal, S., Andrew, G., Patel, V., Cowan, F., & Hart, G. (2009). HIV prevention while the bulldozers roll: Exploring the effect of the demolition of Goa’s red-light area. Social Science and Medicine, 69, 604–612.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shannon, K., & Montaner, J. G. (2012). The politics and policies of HIV prevention in sex work. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 12(7), 500–502.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shannon, K., Kerr, T., Allinott, S., Chettiar, J., Shoveller, J., & Tyndall, M. W. (2008). Social and structural violence and power relations in mitigating HIV risk of drug-using women in survival sex work. Social Science and Medicine, 66, 911–921.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simic, M., & Rhodes, T. (2009). Violence, dignity and HIV vulnerability: Street sex work in Serbia. Sociology of Health & Illness, 31(1), 1–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singer, M. C. (2009). Introduction to syndemics: A critical systems approach to public and community health. Hoboken: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singer, M. C., Erickson, P. I., Badiane, L., Diaz, R., Ortiz, D., Abraham, T., et al. (2006). Syndemics, sex and the city: Understanding sexually transmitted diseases in a social and cultural context. Social Science and Medicine, 63, 2010–2021.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singh, Y. N., & Malavia, A. N. (1994). Long distance truck drivers in India: HIV infection and their possible role in disseminating HIV into rural areas. International Journal of STD and AIDS, 5(2), 137–138.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stall, R., Friedman, M., & Catania, J. A. (2008). Interacting epidemics and gay men’s health: A theory of syndemic production among urban gay men. In R. Stall, R. J. Wolitski, & R. O. Valiserri (Eds.), Unequal opportunity: Health disparities affecting gay and bisexual men in the United States (pp. 251–274). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Talman, A., Bolton, S., & Walson, J. L. (2013). Interaction between HIV/AIDS and the environment: Toward a syndemic framework. American Journal of Public Health, 103(2), 253–261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weitzer, R. (2013). The social ecology of red-light districts: a comparison of Antwerp and Brussels. Urban Affairs Review, 50(2), 702–730.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of Michigan-Dearborn, Dearborn, USA

    Paul Draus

  2. Department of Health and Human Services, University of Michigan-Dearborn, Dearborn, USA

    Juliette Roddy

Authors
  1. Paul Draus
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Juliette Roddy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paul Draus .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Eric R. Wright

  2. Department of Sociology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Neal Carnes

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Draus, P., Roddy, J. (2016). Sex Work. In: Wright, E., Carnes, N. (eds) Understanding the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the United States. Social Disparities in Health and Health Care. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-34004-3_7

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-34004-3_7

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-34002-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-34004-3

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation