Ponsakunpaisan K, Brown KJ, Chirakura AC; International Conference on AIDS.

Int Conf AIDS. 2000 Jul 9-14; 13: abstract no. WePeD4819.

K. Ponsakunpaisan, PO Box 29, Chiangmai 50000, Thailand, Tel.: +66 53 30 4659, Fax: +66 53 24 4569, E-mail: kbrown@cm.ksc.co.th

Issues: Trafficking of ethnic minority women in Southeast Asia is one of the major ways that HIV/AIDS is being spread in that region. As ethnic minority women leave the brothels and return home, they often remain silent about their experiences. Younger girls are not told of the dangers of going to the city for work and are easily lured by the promise of a job that will help bring food to their family. A potentially strong voice in preventing the trafficking of young girls and the resultant HIV transmission is silent. This study explores the determinants of that silence. Description: Ethnic minority, HIV positive women who have worked in the commercial sex industry and service providers working with these women were interviewed. The purpose of the study was: 1) to identify the determinants of silence among ethnic minority women who have left Thailand's commercial sex industry, and 2) to identify ways to help these women break their silence in order to prevent further trafficking of women and the resultant spread of HIV/AIDS. Content analysis was conducted on the interview data using the code and retrieve method. Results: Poverty, lack of education and rights to employment, limited opportunities in villages, and responsibility to provide for their families are reasons that ethnic minority women continue to became a part of the commercial sex industry. Shame is the cultural value that results in the silence of these women. Taboos may forbid a young woman to talk about sex with her siblings. Talking directly about her experiences will put a woman at risk for isolation and rejection, and will bring shame to her family. These women, however, are willing to collaborate with programs providing AIDS education in ethnic minority villages. Women coming out of the commercial sex industry are an untapped resource that should be used in developing AIDS education programs for ethnic minority women.

Publication Types:

• Meeting Abstracts

Keywords:

• Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
• Asia, Southeastern
• Biomedical Research
• Female
• HIV Infections
• HIV Seropositivity
• Human Rights
• Humans
• Minority Groups
• Research
• Thailand
• education
• organization & administration

Other ID:

• GWAIDS0003692

UI: 102241189

From Meeting Abstracts