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Abstract
Creating community to address the intersections of sex work and injection drug use: a collaboration of peer-based and institutional HIV prevention programs in San Francisco, CA
S. Ashley
Most HIV prevention programs either utilize harm reduction for drug users, or address sex workers without a harm reduction approach. Criminalized and stigmatized by both their work and their substance use, creating a space for open dialogue about HIV risk among IDU (injection drug using) sex workers has been a challenge in HIV prevention programming. In an effort to address the needs of these persons, the St. James Infirmary, a clinic run by and for sex workers, initiated an MOU with the San Francisco AIDS Foundation to gain structural support for a peer-based program to build community and link IDU sex workers into a continuum of care. In addition to offering peer-based HIV and Hepatitis C testing and counseling on a weekly basis at one of the city’s busiest syringe exchanges, in an area where much of the city’s street-based sex work occurs, the collaboration has also facilitated community-building events, such as a monthly movie night at the NX site with testing offered concurrently for late-night exchangers, and a Sunday brunch social wherein IDU sex workers of all genders and HIV statuses can discuss the challenges they may face as a community. Simultaneously, the institutional support of the SFAF has increased SJI’s NX capacity through the provision of syringes and safe injection supplies, while the cross-training of both staffs has enabled the implementation of sex-worker led secondary exchange programs, and street-based syringe distribution.
Naturalizing the NX as a recreational space where individuals may initiate their own risk-reduction conversations proved to be vital in building rapport amongst injecting sex workers and eventually providing linkage into comprehensive peer-based health services. This session will guide peer-based programs in successful collaborations to address the intersections of occupational and injecting behaviors.
AIDS 2008 - XVII International AIDS Conference
Abstract no.
CDD0436
Suggested Citation
" S. Ashley
Creating community to address the intersections of sex work and injection drug use: a collaboration of peer-based and institutional HIV prevention programs in San Francisco, CA.
:
AIDS 2008 - XVII International AIDS Conference:
Abstract no.
CDD0436"
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