Publication: Truck Drivers and Casual Sex : An Inquiry into the Potential Spread of HIV/AIDS in the Baltic Region
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2003-02-28
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2013-07-25
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This study, perhaps the first of its kind in this region, is based on a study that explores the practice of casual sex among truck drivers and commercial sex workers in the border areas of Poland and Lithuania at a point of time, and uses this evidence to extrapolate the potential impact on the spread of HIV/AIDS in these countries. After the Introduction which provides background, Section 2 reviews similar studies carried out elsewhere in the world. Section 3 describes the methodology employed in this study, followed by a brief description of the data in Section 4. Section 5 contains a discussion of the results and policy implications.
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“World Bank. 2003. Truck Drivers and Casual Sex : An Inquiry into the Potential Spread of HIV/AIDS in the Baltic Region. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/14610 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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Publication Truck Drivers and Casual Sex : An Inquiry into the Potential Spread of HIV/AIDS in the Baltic Region(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2004-06)This study, perhaps the first of its kind in this region, is based on a study that explores the practice of casual sex among truck drivers, and commercial sex workers in the border areas of the Baltic region at a point of time, and, uses this evidence to extrapolate the potential impact on the spread of HIV/AIDS in these countries. While the threat of an HIV/AIDS epidemic cannot be taken lightly in any country of the Europe and Central Asia region, four countries - Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia - stand out as being particularly vulnerable. First, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS is relatively high, and is rapidly increasing in locations neighboring these countries to the east, like Ukraine, Kaliningrad, Belarus, and Moldova, where public health conditions are also rapidly deteriorating. Second, because of their geographical location, those four countries stand at the crossroads of the main east-west, and north-south transport corridors, and represent the link between countries of the former Soviet Union and western Europe. The open borders, and rapid transit threatens to broaden the sweep of the HIV epidemic, as drug injectors and sex workers come into contact with other population groups. After the Introduction which provides background, Section 2 reviews similar studies carried out elsewhere in the world. Section 3 describes the methodology employed in this study, followed by a brief description of the data in Section 4. 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While several studies have been conducted in Turkey on sex workers, little evidence exists on their clients, the demand side of the commercial sex market. Research from other countries has shown that mobile workers, who are often working-age males spending significant time away from home, are more likely to have multiple sexual partners and visit sex workers (World Bank, 2009; Kulis et al., 2009; Marck, 1999). The objective of this study is to determine the HIV knowledge, awareness, and behaviors among four mobile worker groups in Turkey that may have elevated risks for HIV infection and transmission: sailors, truck drivers, construction, and tourism workers. International transportation, construction, and tourism are some of the fastest growing sectors of Turkey's economy, and mobile workers in these sectors are believed to be one of the main HIV transmission routes for future infections (Tumer and Unal, 2006). It is important to note two caveats of this study. 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