The balancing act
Exploring stigma, economic need and disclosure among male sex workers in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15540730 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Elizabeth F Closson (Fenway Health, corresponding author), Donn Colby (0000-0003-3931-5926, University Medical Center HCMC), Nguyễn Thị Hồng Chuyên (0000-0002-3846-8835, Fulbright University Vietnam), Samuel S Cohen (Fenway Health), Katie B Biello (0000-0002-5017-5699, Harvard University), Matthew J Mimiaga (0000-0001-9256-2905, Harvard University) |
| Year | 2015 |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 520-531 |
| Publication date | 2015-01-02 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Global Public Health (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1744-1692 • E-ISSN: 1744-1706 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/17441692.2014.992452 |
| PMID | 25555192 |
| PMCID | PMC4346426 |
| OpenAlex | W2013053554 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 40 |
In Vietnam, there is an emerging HIV epidemic among men who have sex with men (MSM). Male sex workers engage in high-risk sexual behaviours that make them particularly vulnerable to HIV infection. In 2010, 23 MSM in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) who recently received payment for sex with another man completed in-depth qualitative interviews exploring motivations for sex work, patterns of sex work disclosure and experiences of social stigma. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and translated into English and analysed using a qualitative descriptive approach. Low wages, unstable employment and family remittances were motivating factors for MSM in HCMC to sell sex. Participants described experiences of enacted and felt social stigma related to their involvement in sex work. In response, they utilised stigma management techniques aimed at concealment of involvement in sex work. Such strategies restricted sexual communication with non-paying sex partners and potentially limited their ability to seek social support from family and friends. Departing from decontextualized depictions of sex work disclosure, our findings describe how decisions to reveal involvement in sex work are shaped by social and structural factors such as social stigma, techniques to minimise exposure to stigma, economic imperatives and familial responsibilities
Economic growth · Economics · Environmental health · Family medicine · Ho chi minh · Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV · Migrant workers · Population · Psychiatry · Sex work · Sex workers · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Stigma (botany · Vietnamese · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk · Medicine · Psychology · Sex work and related issues · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies
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| Citations per year | 0.6 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2016 - 2026 (11) |
| Highly cited | No |