Condom use among sex workers
Export Indicator
Progress in preventing exposure to HIV among sex workers through unprotected sex with clients
Various factors increase the risk of exposure to HIV among sex workers, including multiple, non-regular partners and more frequent sexual intercourse. However, sex workers can substantially reduce the risk of HIV transmission, both from clients and to clients, by consistently and correctly using condoms.
Note: countries with generalized epidemics may also have a concentrated subepidemic among sex workers. If so, calculating and reporting on this indicator for this population would be valuable.
Number of sex workers who reported using a condom with their last client
Number of sex workers who reported having commercial sex in the past 12 months
Numerator/denominator
Biobehavioural surveillance surveys or other special surveys (e.g. BBS-Lite)
Respondents are asked the following question:
Did you use a condom with your most recent client with whom you had sexual intercourse?
Whenever possible, data for sex workers should be collected through or with civil society organizations that have worked closely with this population in the field. Access to sex workers and the data collected from them must remain confidential and secure.
Every two years
- Sex (female, male and transgender)
- Age (<25 and 25+ years)
If there are subnational data available, please provide the disaggregation by administrative area, city, or site in the space provided. Submit the digital version of any available survey reports using the upload tool.
Condoms are most effective when they are used consistently rather than occasionally. The current indicator will overestimate the level of consistent condom use. However, the alternative method of asking whether condoms are always, sometimes or never used in sexual encounters with clients in a specified period is subject to recall bias. Further, the trend in condom use in the most recent sexual act will generally reflect the trend in recent consistent condom use.
This indicator asks about commercial sex in the past 12 months. If data are available on another time period, such as the past three or six months, please include the alternate indicator definition in the metadata in the comments section of the reporting tool.
Surveying sex workers can be challenging. Consequently, the data obtained may not be based on a representative national sample of the key populations at higher risk being surveyed. If there are concerns that the data are not based on a representative sample, the interpretation of the survey data should reflect these concerns. If there are different sources of data, the best available estimate should be used. The report submitted with this indicator should include information on the sample size, the quality and reliability of the data and any related issues.
BBS-Lite is less technically demanding and may be undertaken with fewer resources than larger-scale, more comprehensive bio-behavioural surveys. It can also be repeated more frequently and yield results more rapidly. The results supplement data from other sources. The BBS-Lite involves non-probability sampling methods, and therefore in many cases the results are most useful for understanding the local situation for programming purposes.
To maximize the utility of these data, it is recommended that the same sample used for calculating this indicator be used for calculating the other indicators related to these populations.