Suchergebnisse

While much has been said about the risks and safety issues experienced by female sex workers in India, there is a considerable dearth of information about the difficulties and problems that sex work researchers, especially female researchers, experience when navigating the highly political, ideological, and stigmatized environment of the Indian sex industry. As noted by scholars, there are several methodological and ethical issues involved with sex work research, such as privacy and confidentiality of the participants, representativeness of the sample, and informed consent. Yet, there has been reluctance among scholars to comment on their research process, especially with regard to how they deal with the protocols for research ethics when conducting social and behavioral epidemiological studies among female sex workers in India and elsewhere. Drawing on my 7 months of field-based ethnographic research with "flying" or non-brothel-based female sex workers in Kolkata, India, I provide in this article a reflexive account of the problems encountered in implementing the research process, particularly the ethical and safety issues involved in gaining access and acceptance into the sex industry and establishing contact and rapport with the participants. In doing so, it is my hope that future researchers can develop the knowledge necessary for the design of ethical and non-exploitative research projects with sex workers.

Based on my 7 months of ethnographic research with "flying" or mobile female sex workers (FSWs) in the eastern metropolitan city of Kolkata, India, I argue that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention programs have a limited outreach and impact within the community because of the fundamental differences in how the nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) staff and flying FSWs perceive the risk of HIV. This article examines flying FSWs perceptions of HIV risk and the NGOs sexual health outreach services. Further, the implications for HIV prevention programs and social work practice are discussed.

This article investigates the impact of COVID-19 on the health and lived experiences of the transgender community in India. In particular, the study analyses how COVID-19 affects the lives of the transgender community in terms of their interaction with the government policymaking and identity negotiation, livelihoods, access to health resources, availability of gender transition services and status of mental health. The analysis shows that the COVID-19 pandemic and the government strategies to curb the spread of infection have exacerbated the challenges faced by the transgender community in India and threatened their survival. As disease outbreaks traditionally perpetuate gender inequities and increase vulnerabilities borne by marginalised groups, the analysis has implications for purposefully creating appropriate platforms for participation of the transgender community and designing and delivering suitable programs and services to enhance their welling and human dignity.

Information Communication Technologies (ICT), particularly mobile phone technology, has increased the propinquity between individuals by enhancing their ability to frequently communicate with one another through different mediums, like text, audio, video, and emojis. Cell phone technology is being used to combat various social issues, including several public health-related problems such as violence against women. Over the past two decades several cellphone-based apps, including Circle of 6, MyPlan, Panic Button, and Aspire News have been developed in several countries to prevent violence against women. Anecdotal evidence suggests that these apps are effective both as violence prevention and as an intervention tool in public as well as private spaces. However, very little awareness exists among social workers about these mobile phone applications (apps), particularly the capabilities and limitations of these apps. Based on a brief survey and classification of the existing mobile phone apps designed to prevent violence against women, this paper aims to explain how these apps work, and point out their capabilities and limitations so that social workers and public health professionals can better guide their clients in using these technology-based services. It is highly recommended that social workers evaluate how their clients are affected by the use or non-use of violence prevention apps and advocate for their client's right to digital literacy and internet access.

Child care is increasingly viewed as an opportunity to enhance children's development and school readiness, with prekindergarten programs and early intervention programs targeting children at different moments of development. Results of existing research are mixed, and although many children experience different child care arrangements at different ages, little is known about the joint influence of early and later child care experiences. Using Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten Cohort data, the authors estimate a series of regression models, examining the unique and additive contributions of initial child care experiences and prekindergarten experiences on children's school readiness. The authors find that early use of nonparental care is associated with negative sociobehavioral outcomes; prekindergarten center-based and Head Start care add to this negative association. Early participation in center-based care is associated with enhanced reading and math scores; those relationships are fully mediated by prekindergarten center-based care participation. Implications for policy, practice, and research are discussed.