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Case study

 

Survey of migrant sex workers in Singapore entertainment venues (19)


In 2008, health researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) wanted to find out about the prevalence of sex work, unsafe sexual activities and STI screening uptake among migrant entertainment workers in the country. However, it is illegal to prostitute in Singapore entertainment venues (e.g. pubs, discos, etc.). The researchers were concerned that their research might expose these foreign workers. This could cause harm such as abuse from employers or legal arrest and deportation.

Wong M-L, Chan R, Tan HH, Yong E, Lee L, Cutter J, et al. Sex Work and Risky Sexual Behaviors among Foreign Entertainment Workers in Urban Singapore: Findings from Mystery Client Survey. J Urban Health. 2012 Dec;89(6):1031–44. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3531347/

Activity: 

Read the following paper to find out how the researchers mitigated the risks of the study through their recruitment methods: (10 to 15-minute read)
Sex Work and Risky Sexual Behaviors among Foreign Entertainment Workers in Urban Singapore: Findings from Mystery Client Survey (Wong et al, 2012)

Answer the following question.

Multi-choice

Question

How did the researchers recruit their subjects in this study?  

Answers

They identified themselves clearly as university researchers, sought permissions from the entertainment venues and made sure that they documented each consent clearly.

They trained the interviewers so that they could pretend to be potential ‘clients’ and secretly administer the questionnaire via casual conversation with the sex workers.

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