IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v70y2010i1p121-129.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Incarcerated sex workers and HIV prevention in China: Social suffering and social justice countermeasures

Author

Listed:
  • Tucker, Joseph
  • Ren, Xin
  • Sapio, Flora

Abstract

Sex workers in China are routinely coercively detained through administrative mechanisms outside of legal procedures, but very little is known about the anthropologic and public health context of these policies. This biosocial analysis of female Chinese sex worker detention uses ethnographic, legal, and public health data to describe social suffering and countervailing social justice responses among incarcerated sex workers (ISW) in China. Compared to sex workers not detained in China, ISW face substantive inequalities inscribed in physical and psychological suffering. Chinese sex worker detention camp practices may not only systematically increase HIV/syphilis risk among ISW, but also work to narrow women's social spheres of influence, a particularly cruel tragedy in a Chinese social system that highly values social and personal connections. A limited empiric analysis of Guangxi Province STI clinic data shows that cities detaining sex workers have higher mean HIV prevalence compared to cities that do not detain sex workers. While incipient medical and legal movements in China have generated momentum for expanding ISW services and resources, there is still substantial variation in the implementation of laws that ensure basic life-saving medical treatments. Post-incarceration social justice programs for sex workers linking women to essential STI/HIV resources, reconnecting broken social lives, and helping restore interpersonal relationships are urgently needed.

Suggested Citation

  • Tucker, Joseph & Ren, Xin & Sapio, Flora, 2010. "Incarcerated sex workers and HIV prevention in China: Social suffering and social justice countermeasures," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 121-129, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:70:y:2010:i:1:p:121-129
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277-9536(09)00686-8
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gil, Vincent E. & Wang, Marco S. & Anderson, Allen F. & Lin, Guo Matthew & Wu, Zongjian Oliver, 1996. "Prostitutes, prostitution and STD/HIV transmission in Mainland China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 141-152, January.
    2. Stephen Koester, 2008. "The Disconnect between China's Public Health and Public Security Responses to Injection Drug Use, and the Consequences for Human Rights," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 5(12), pages 1-2, December.
    3. M.-L. Caron-Fasan & H. Lesca & N. Lesca, 2008. "Comment éviter l'échec ?," Post-Print halshs-00365205, HAL.
    4. Paul E Farmer & Bruce Nizeye & Sara Stulac & Salmaan Keshavjee, 2006. "Structural Violence and Clinical Medicine," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 3(10), pages 1-6, October.
    5. Jay Silverman & Michele Decker, 2007. "The US Anti-Prostitution Pledge: A Call for Cooperation," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 4(10), pages 1-1, October.
    6. Lin Lu & Manhong Jia & Yanling Ma & Li Yang & Zhiwei Chen & David D. Ho & Yan Jiang & Linqi Zhang, 2008. "The changing face of HIV in China," Nature, Nature, vol. 455(7213), pages 609-611, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gayitri Kavita Indar & Christine Sharon Barrow & Warren E. Whitaker, 2023. "A Convergence of Violence: Structural Violence Experiences of K–12, Black, Disabled Males across Multiple Systems," Laws, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-21, September.
    2. Matthew Williams & Non Arkaraprasertkul, 2017. "Mobility in a global city: Making sense of Shanghai’s growing automobile-dominated transport culture," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 54(10), pages 2232-2248, August.
    3. Sparke, Matthew, 2017. "Austerity and the embodiment of neoliberalism as ill-health: Towards a theory of biological sub-citizenship," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 287-295.
    4. Michael A. Flynn & Pietra Check & Andrea L. Steege & Jacqueline M. Sivén & Laura N. Syron, 2021. "Health Equity and a Paradigm Shift in Occupational Safety and Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-13, December.
    5. Cheney, Ann M. & Newkirk, Christine & Rodriguez, Katheryn & Montez, Anselmo, 2018. "Inequality and health among foreign-born latinos in rural borderland communities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 215(C), pages 115-122.
    6. Shilo St. Cyr & Elise Trott Jaramillo & Laura Garrison & Lorraine Halinka Malcoe & Stephen R. Shamblen & Cathleen E. Willging, 2021. "Intimate Partner Violence and Structural Violence in the Lives of Incarcerated Women: A Mixed-Method Study in Rural New Mexico," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(12), pages 1-16, June.
    7. Jun-Qing Wu & Ke-Wei Wang & Rui Zhao & Yu-Yan Li & Ying Zhou & Yi-Ran Li & Hong-Lei Ji & Ming Ji, 2014. "Male Rural-to-Urban Migrants and Risky Sexual Behavior: A Cross-Sectional Study in Shanghai, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-19, March.
    8. Pursch, Benita & Tate, Alexandra & Legido-Quigley, Helena & Howard, Natasha, 2020. "Health for all? A qualitative study of NGO support to migrants affected by structural violence in northern France," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 248(C).
    9. Joel Cooper & Randall Fox & Jan Loeprick & Komal Mohindra, 2016. "Transfer Pricing and Developing Economies," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 25095.
    10. Panter-Brick, Catherine & Eggerman, Mark, 2018. "The field of medical anthropology in Social Science & Medicine," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 233-239.
    11. Gamlin, Jennie B., 2013. "Shame as a barrier to health seeking among indigenous Huichol migrant labourers: An interpretive approach of the “violence continuum” and “authoritative knowledge”," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 75-81.
    12. Mendelsohn, Joshua B. & Rhodes, Tim & Spiegel, Paul & Schilperoord, Marian & Burton, John Wagacha & Balasundaram, Susheela & Wong, Chunting & Ross, David A., 2014. "Bounded agency in humanitarian settings: A qualitative study of adherence to antiretroviral therapy among refugees situated in Kenya and Malaysia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 387-395.
    13. M. Giovanna Merli & Sara Hertog, 2010. "Masculine sex ratios, population age structure and the potential spread of HIV in China," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 22(3), pages 63-94.
    14. Colin Forsyth & Sheba Meymandi & Ilan Moss & Jason Cone & Rachel Cohen & Carolina Batista, 2019. "Proposed multidimensional framework for understanding Chagas disease healthcare barriers in the United States," PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(9), pages 1-23, September.
    15. Yang, Lawrence H. & Chen, Fang-pei & Sia, Kathleen Janel & Lam, Jonathan & Lam, Katherine & Ngo, Hong & Lee, Sing & Kleinman, Arthur & Good, Byron, 2014. "“What matters most:” A cultural mechanism moderating structural vulnerability and moral experience of mental illness stigma," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 84-93.
    16. Marlow, Marguerite & Christie, Hope & Skeen, Sarah & Rabie, Stephan & Louw, Jacobus G. & Swartz, Leslie & Mofokeng, Shoeshoe & Makhetha, Moroesi & Tomlinson, Mark, 2021. "Alcohol use during pregnancy in rural Lesotho: “There is nothing else except alcohol”," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 291(C).
    17. Richardson, Eugene T. & Malik, Momin M. & Darity, William A. & Mullen, A. Kirsten & Morse, Michelle E. & Malik, Maya & Maybank, Aletha & Bassett, Mary T. & Farmer, Paul E. & Worden, Lee & Jones, James, 2021. "Reparations for Black American descendants of persons enslaved in the U.S. and their potential impact on SARS-CoV-2 transmission," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    18. Louvel, Séverine & Soulier, Alexandra, 2022. "Biological embedding vs. embodiment of social experiences: How these two concepts form distinct thought styles around the social production of health inequalities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 314(C).
    19. Shadow Toke & Ignacio Correa-Velez & Elisha Riggs, 2024. "Exploring Trauma- and Violence-Informed Pregnancy Care for Karen Women of Refugee Background: A Community-Based Participatory Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(3), pages 1-18, February.
    20. Persson, Asha & Newman, Christy E. & valentine, kylie & Hamilton, Myra & Bryant, Joanne & Wallace, Jack, 2019. "The embodied relationality of blood-borne viruses: How families matter in the context of a stigmatised viral infection," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:70:y:2010:i:1:p:121-129. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.