The future of children of female sex workers in Rwanda : a call to address their risk and vulnerability to HIV infection

Abstract

Female sex workers (FSWs) are one of the populations most at risk for becoming infected with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, a region with the worst disease burden globally. In Rwanda, there are an estimated 15,000 FSWs. The HIV prevalence among FSWs in Rwanda was estimated to be approximately 46% in 2015. The 2015 Behavioral and Biological Surveillance Survey among female sex workers enrolled 1978 FSWs. In this study, 4% and 10,4% of the FSWs in Kigali city and other provinces respectively were aged 15–19. Nearly a quarter (22%) reported conducting their business from home as opposed to other hotspots [2]. Participants largely (70%) reported that they had sexual intercourse for their first time at the age of 15–19. Among them, 43% were engaged in the sex work for the first time within the same age range with 5.5% reporting engaging in their first commercial sex under the age of 15 years. Despite the progress made in HIV interventions amongst FSWs as evident by the decreased prevalence, little work has been done on their children, an equally vulnerable population.