http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17019369
HIV prevalence and predicators among sex trafficked women
- “Despite the rapid spread of India’s HIV epidemic through commercial sex and the large numbers of minor girls trafficked to India for sex work each year, little HIV research has been conducted among victims of sex trafficking.”
The above statement angered me to a great extent. HIV prevalence among sex trafficked women is at an all time high yet little research has been done? Is America being ignorant about this issue? YES, very much so. How could there not be research conducted on such a horrible, traumatic, life-altering issue. There was a study conducted to examine the prevalence and predictors of HIV infection among sex-trafficked women and girls rescued from brothels in Mumbai, India. The results were nothing short of mind boggling! Approximately one quarter (22.9%) of trafficked individuals tested positive for HIV. The mean age was marginally younger for women and girls infected with HIV (15.9 years) as compared to those not infected (17.2 years). “Girls trafficked as minors reported longer periods of brothel confinement as compared to those trafficked at older ages.” this study really baffled me! I was so shocked at how many girls had contracted HIV at such young ages. That disease will ruin their lives, and to understand that they had no choice really upsets me.
- “Findings demonstrate the need for increased attention to HIV among young victims of sex trafficking in research and practice, and to the rescue of sex trafficking victims as a form of HIV prevention.”
