| dc.description.abstract | In a world where the overwhelming majority of HIV infections are sexually transmitted, sex
workers are at a heightened risk of HIV infection. According to Nascop (2010) in Kenya, 1.3
million people aged between 15-64 years are living with HIV with a national prevalence of
7.1%. Although links between sex work and HIV vulnerability have been recognized since the
earliest of days, surveys indicate that sex workers have inadequate access to HIV prevention
services and it is believed that their access is even more limited for appropriate care, treatment
and support. To date, HIV response has devoted insufficient attention and resources to efforts to
address HIV and sex work, with less than 1% of global funding for HIV prevention being spent
on HIV and sex work (UNAIDS:2012). The study focused on the incidence of HIV/AIDS among
female sex workers in Imenti North sub county, Meru County.
The study sought to understand the factors contributing to the incidence of HIV/AIDS among
female sex workers in Imenti North sub county, Meru County. The objectives included: To
assess the influence of accessibility to HIV prevention services, assess the influence of structural
issues, determine how condom use influences the incidence, assess how Government policy
influences incidence and to determine the influence of culture on incidence of HIV/AIDS among
female sex workers. Descriptive survey research design was adopted and a stratified sampling
technique was used to get the sample frame of the respondents. The research instruments used
were open and closed ended questionnaires and personal interviews. The findings of the study
showed that 74% of the respondents had access to HIV prevention services which was free of
discrimination, 81% of them had not experienced any form of arrest or harassment by police or
city council officers and condom use was high with 63% of them using condoms with both
regular and casual clients. The study also showed accessibility to HIV prevention services,
structural issues and condom use influence the incidence of HIV/AIDS among female sex
workers. This study recommends that county government should develop policy frameworks that
do not criminalize sex work, that the Ministry of Health should increase the education of sex
workers on condom use and STI management, massive provision and distribution of condoms by
the ministry of health, and Nascop and sensitization of all health workers and police officers on
the rights of sex workers. | en_US |
