Sexual and Drug-related Vulnerabilities for HIV Infection Among Women Engaged in Survival Sex Work in Vancouver, Canada

Abstract
Women engaged in survival sex work face multiple sexual and drug-related harms that directly enhance their vulnerability to HIV infection. Although research on injection-drug-using women has explored predictors of sex work and HIV infection, little information currently exists on the complex vulnerabilities to HIV transmission faced by survival sex workers in this setting. This analysis aimed to determine HIV prevalence among women engaged in survival sex work, and explore sexual and drug-related vulnerabilities associated with baseline infection.