- Ulibarri, Monica D;
- Strathdee, Steffanie A;
- Ulloa, Emilio C;
- Lozada, Remedios;
- Fraga, Miguel A;
- Magis-Rodríguez, Carlos;
- De La Torre, Adela;
- Amaro, Hortensia;
- O’Campo, Patricia;
- Patterson, Thomas L
We examined relationships between client-perpetrated emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, injection drug use, and HIV-serostatus among 924 female sex workers (FSWs) in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, two large Mexico-US border cities. We hypothesized that FSWs' injection drug use would mediate the relationship between client-perpetrated abuse and HIV-seropositivity. The prevalence of client-perpetrated emotional, physical, and sexual abuse in the past 6 months was 26, 18, and 10% respectively; prevalence of current injection drug use and HIV was 12 and 6%, respectively. Logistic regression analyses revealed that client-perpetrated sexual abuse was significantly associated with HIV-seropositivity and injection drug use, and that injection drug use was positively associated with HIV-seropositivity. Injection drug use partially mediated the relationship between client-perpetrated sexual abuse and HIV-seropositivity. Results suggest the need to address client-perpetrated violence and injection drug use when assessing HIV risk among FSWs.