108 The Global HIV Epidemics among Sex Workers
percent of the population, 40% of new infections are estimated to be associated with HIV risk behaviors among these groups and their sexual partners. Female sex workers bear the greatest burden of HIV infection among the groups with estimated prevalence ranging from 8.3 to 46% (National Agency for the Control of AIDS 2010) and HIV incidence was estimated between 11.97 to 12.36% among female sex workers in Nasarawa State in 2006 (Forbi, Entonu et al. 2011). Despite these findings and the feminization of the HIV epidemic, experts assert that little action was taken to prevent HIV transmission among women until those women who were not female sex workers started becoming infected (Garcia-Moreno 1996; Aniekwu 2002).
HIV prevalence (percent)
Figure 3.6 National Estimates of HIV Prevalence among Key Populations, 2010
30 25 20
27.4 21.1 17.2
15 10
4.2
5 0
Brothel- Nonbased brothel FSW based FSW
MSM
2.4
2.6
IDU Transport Police workers
2.5 Armed forces
Source: Federal Ministry of Health (Nigeria) 2011. Note: FSW = female sex worker; IDU = injecting drug user; MSM = men who have sex with men.
Scope, Typology, and Context of Sex Work Sex work in Nigeria varies by geographic and social contexts, across the spectrum of formal or part-time sex work, and according to the level of acknowledgement and social acceptance of sex work. Differences in HIV prevalence and risk behaviors are observed between the different types of sex work as well as by geography. Sex work in Nigeria is criminalized, less socially accepted and even condemned among more Islamic and Christian communities (Munoz, Adedimeji et al. 2010). In cities, sex-work may be brothel-based or organized within hotels and bars. This organization provides a situation that is easier to assess by HIV surveillance methods, as with the IBBSS, due to visibili-