Prevention or repression : law enforcement, public health, and HIV/AIDS in China

This chapter specifically examines the negative consequences of repressive tactics to combat drug use and sex work on the ability of IDUs and sex workers to practice HIV/AIDS prevention through harm reduction, in particular reducing their sharing of needles and increasing their use of condoms. In order to substantiate our claims, we use ethnographic data collected from field observations during 2003 and 2004, which included thirty-two in-depth interviews (five male drug users, ten female drug users who exchanged sex for money, sixteen sex workers, and a government official) and seven focus group sessions (two groups of sex workers, two groups of drug users of mixed sex, one group of male drug users of ethnic minority origin, and two groups of outreach workers) in two cities in Sichuain Province..