Lives of Sex Workers in Turkmenistan

The object of this research is to explore sex workers’ insight on the possible risks of being a sex worker, and to advise the sex workers about HIV prevention as well as other STDs. The sampled population included 9 individuals in all, eight being sex workers, ranging in age from 26 to 38, and one expert from Turkmenistan National AIDS Center. Five of the sex workers come from the city of Ashgabat and three from Russia. The work environment of the sex workers includes the streets and the bars. Based on those who were examined, an overall conclusion was made that the knowledge of HIV transmission is poor among the sex workers. These people feel that they are at low risk which leads to them not practicing safe sex. Although it has not been a priority of theirs to get tested, the sex workers all said that they would be interested in being tested regularly if it were free. By using the term sex workers, does that imply that this is a profession and is legal there? Zulfiya Chariyeva, from the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, frowned at the question and replied saying, “no it’s definitely not legal there, in fact, the sex workers are sometimes forced to satisfy the needs of the police with the hopes of being released".