Partners of Brothel-based Sex Workers in Ibadan: Implication for Intervention and Program Development

摘要

One in every three female commercial sex workers (CSW) in Nigeria is HIV positive, yet there is hardly any data on their male partners. This community-based study was carried out to characterize partners of CSW by risk behavior, level of knowledge and attitude to HIV/AIDS and to assess factors which increase their risks for HIV. Male clients of CSW (n=202) drawn from randomly selected brothels were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Median age of the men was 28 (range 17-71years), 54.5(percent) were currently married, 83.7(percent) reported having had penetrative sex with a CSW while 2.5(percent) reported that a sex worker was their first sexual partner. Over half (59.6(percent)) of the men were HIV positive. Most men (84.7(percent)) had ever used a condom while only 30.5(percent) of married and 59.6(percent) of single men (all 52.1(percent)) who reported ever having penetrative sex used a condom during last sexual contact with the CSW. Following multivariate logistic regression analysis ever had penetrative sex with a sex worker (OR=7.7,p<0.000) and having homes/office within 2 kilometers of a brothel (OR=1.7,p=0.084), were associated with increased risk of infection. Men with high HIV knowledge scores (p=0.018) and high attitudinal scores (p=0.015) were less likely to be infected. Findings show that the male partners are at high risk for HIV/AIDS and it is needless targeting the sex workers while leaving their male partners out.