Knowledge of Brothel Workers About Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Erzurum, Turkey

ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge of women working in a brothel in Erzurum, Turkey about sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and their STD risk.
This descriptive, cross-sectional study included all registered women working in a brothel in Erzurum (N=19). A questionnaire form prepared by scanning the literature was used to determine the level of knowledge of the women about STDs, and the results were evaluated using SPSS version 20.
The average knowledge level was medium among the women in the brothel. We found that women working in the brothel had better knowledge about HIV/AIDS, whereas their knowledge level was lower for hepatitis C. Of the brothel workers, 52.6% defined their job as high risk and 52.9% thought that their job was high risk for contracting and spreading STDs. The percentage of condom use in all episodes of sexual intercourse was 31.6% among brothel workers.
This study demonstrates that the knowledge level of women working brothels is inadequate and they do not use effective means to prevent STDs.

Keywords: Condoms, sex workers, Sexually Transmitted Diseases