Are violence, harmful alcohol/substance use and poor mental health associated with increased genital inflammation?: A longitudinal cohort study with HIV-negative female sex workers in Nairobi, Kenya.

Violence, alcohol use, substance use and poor mental health have been linked with increased HIV acquisition risk, and genital inflammation enhances HIV susceptibility. We examined whether past 6 month experience of these exposures was associated with increased genital inflammation, thereby providing a biological link between these exposures and HIV acquisition risk. The Maisha Fiti study was a longitudinal mixed-methods study of female sex workers in Nairobi, Kenya.

The epidemiology of HIV infection among female sex workers in Nairobi, Kenya: A structural determinants and life-course perspective.

High HIV prevalence among female sex workers (FSWs) is heavily influenced by structural determinants (e.g. criminalisation of sex work; violence) and significant life events (e.

Violence across the Life Course and Implications for Intervention Design: Findings from the Maisha Fiti Study with Female Sex Workers in Nairobi, Kenya.

We examined violence experiences among Female Sex Workers (FSWs) in Nairobi, Kenya, and how these relate to HIV risk using a life course perspective. Baseline behavioural-biological surveys were conducted with 1003 FSWs June-December 2019. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate the adjusted odds ratio (AOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for associations of life course factors with reported experience of physical or sexual violence in the past 6 months.

Conducting Violence and Mental Health Research with Female Sex Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Ethical Considerations, Challenges, and Lessons Learned from the Maisha Fiti Study in Nairobi, Kenya.

Conducting violence and mental health research during the COVID-19 pandemic with vulnerable groups such as female sex workers (FSWs) required care to ensure that participants and the research team were not harmed. Potential risks and harm avoidance needed to be considered as well as ensuring data reliability. In March 2020, COVID-19 restrictions were imposed in Kenya during follow-up data collection for the Maisha Fiti study ( = 1003); hence data collection was paused.

Beaten but not down! Exploring resilience among female sex workers (FSWs) in Nairobi, Kenya.

Background: In Kenya sex work is illegal and those engaged in the trade are stigmatized and marginalized. We explored how female sex workers in Nairobi, Kenya, utilize different resources to navigate the negative consequences of the work they do.

Methods: Qualitative data were collected in October 2019 from 40 FSWs who were randomly sampled from 1003 women enrolled in the Maisha Fiti study, a 3-year longitudinal mixed-methods study exploring the relationship between HIV risk and violence and mental health.