Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25059938›Full record

SynthesisLancet (London, England)2015

A community empowerment approach to the HIV response among sex workers: effectiveness, challenges, and considerations for implementation and scale-up.

Deanna Kerrigan, Caitlin E Kennedy, Ruth Morgan-Thomas, Sushena Reza-Paul, Peninah Mwangi, Kay Thi Win, Allison McFall, Virginia A Fonner, Jennifer Butler

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Lancet (London, England), 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 171 papers, 11 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
171citing papers in PubMed, 11 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

171 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  20. Prevalence and risk factors of sexually transmitted infections in women in eleven hospitals in two low-income countries: a cross-sectional study.European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2026
    Article

111 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Deanna KerriganJohns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA. Electronic address: dkerrig1@jhu.edu.
Caitlin E KennedyJohns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Ruth Morgan-ThomasGlobal Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP), Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.
Sushena Reza-PaulUniversity of Manitoba, Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
Peninah MwangiBar Hostess Empowerment and Support Program, Nairobi, Kenya.
Kay Thi WinAsia Pacific Network of Sex Workers (APNSW), Bangkok, Thailand.
Allison McFallJohns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Virginia A FonnerJohns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Jennifer ButlerUN Population Fund, New York, NY, USA.

Funding

Vaccine Response and Immunotherapeutics SWGP30AI094189 · NIAID · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI Richard E. Chaisson · 2012 to 2026
$67.0M
NIAID NIH HHS 1P30AI094189NIAID NIH HHS P30 AI094189
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

A community empowerment-based response to HIV is a process by which sex workers take collective ownership of programmes to achieve the most effective HIV outcomes and address social and structural barriers to their overall health and human rights. Community empowerment has increasingly gained recognition as a key approach for addressing HIV in sex workers, with its focus on addressing the broad context within which the heightened risk for infection takes places in these individuals. However, large-scale implementation of community empowerment-based approaches has been scarce. We undertook a comprehensive review of community empowerment approaches for addressing HIV in sex workers. Within this effort, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effectiveness of community empowerment in sex workers in low-income and middle-income countries. We found that community empowerment-based approaches to addressing HIV among sex workers were significantly associated with reductions in HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, and with increases in consistent condom use with all clients. Despite the promise of a community-empowerment approach, we identified formidable structural barriers to implementation and scale-up at various levels. These barriers include regressive international discourses and funding constraints; national laws criminalising sex work; and intersecting social stigmas, discrimination, and violence. The evidence base for community empowerment in sex workers needs to be strengthened and diversified, including its role in aiding access to, and uptake of, combination interventions for HIV prevention. Furthermore, social and political change are needed regarding the recognition of sex work as work, both globally and locally, to encourage increased support for community empowerment responses to HIV.

Indexed as

Community NetworksPower, PsychologicalCondomsDelivery of Health CareHIV InfectionsHumansSexually Transmitted DiseasesSex WorkSex Workers

Identifiers

PMID25059938
PMCPMC7394498

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.