Piloting a Savings-Led Microfinance Intervention with Women Engaging in Sex Work in Mongolia: Further Innovation for HIV Risk Reduction
| Autor: | Susan S. Witte, Toivgoo Aira, Batsukh Altantsetseg, Laura Cordisco Tsai, Marion Riedel |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2011 |
| Předmět: |
Gerontology
medicine.medical_specialty media_common.quotation_subject Transactional sex Article law.invention 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine law SAFER Medicine 030212 general & internal medicine Empowerment media_common Sex work Microfinance 030505 public health business.industry Public health 1. No poverty HIV Financial education Vocational education Business development Financial literacy 0305 other medical science business |
| Zdroj: | The open women's health journal |
| ISSN: | 1874-2912 |
| Popis: | This paper describes a pilot study testing the feasibility of an innovative savings-led microfinance intervention in increasing the economic empowerment and reducing the sexual risk behavior of women engaging in sex work in Mon- golia. Women's economic vulnerability may increase their risk for HIV by compromising their ability to negotiate safer sex with partners and heightening the likelihood they will exchange sex for survival. Microfinance has been considered a potentially powerful structural HIV prevention strategy with women conducting sex work, as diversification of income sources may increase women's capacity to negotiate safer transactional sex. With 50% of all reported female HIV cases in Mongolia detected among women engaging in sex work, direct prevention intervention with women conducting sex work represents an opportunity to prevent a potentially rapid increase in HIV infection in urban Mongolia. The piloted interven- tion consisted of a matched savings program in which matched savings could be used for business development or voca- tional education, combined with financial literacy and business development training for women engaging in sex work. Results of the pilot demonstrate participants' increased confidence in their ability to manage finances, greater hope for pursuing vocational goals, moderate knowledge gains regarding financial literacy, and an initial transition from sex work to alternative income generation for five out of nine participants. The pilot findings highlight the potential for such an in- tervention and the need for a clinical trial testing the efficacy of savings-led microfinance programs in reducing HIV risk for women engaging in sex work in Mongolia. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|