title: Community advocacy groups as a means to address the social environment of female sex workers: a case study in Andhra Pradesh, India.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To examine the association between the presence of community advocacy groups (CAGs) and female sex workers' (FSWs) access to social entitlements and outcomes of police advocacy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were used from a cross-sectional survey conducted in 2010-2011 among 1986 FSWs and 104 NGO outreach workers from five districts of Andhra Pradesh. FSWs were recruited using a probability-based sampling from 104 primary sampling units (PSUs). A PSU is a geographical area covered by one outreach worker and is expected to have an active CAG as per community mobilisation efforts. The presence of active CAGs was defined as the presence of an active committee or advocacy group in the area (PSU). Outcome indicators included acquisition of different social entitlements and measures of police response as reported by FSWs. Multivariate linear and logistic regression analyses were used to examine the associations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Areas with active CAGs compared with their counterparts had a significantly higher mean number of FSWs linked to ration cards (12.8 vs 6.8; p<0.01), bank accounts (9.3 vs 5.9; p=0.05) and health insurance (13.1 vs 7.0; p=0.02). A significantly higher percentage of FSWs from areas with active CAGs as compared with others reported that the police treat them more fairly now than a year before (79.7% vs 70.3%; p<0.05) and the police explained the reasons for arrest when arrested the last time (95.7% vs 87%; p<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  FSWs from areas with active CAGs were more likely to access certain social entitlements and to receive a fair response from the police, highlighting the contributions of CAGs in community mobilisation.
authors.affiliation: India HIV/AIDS Alliance, Sarovar Center, 5-9-22, Secretariat Road, Hyderabad 500063, Andhra Pradesh, India. pswarup@allianceindia.org
authors.forename: Swarup
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Punyam
authors.forename: Renuka Somanatha
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Pullikalu
authors.forename: Ram Manohar
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Mishra
authors.forename: Prashanth
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sandri
authors.forename: Balakrishna Prasad
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Mutupuru
authors.forename: Suresh Babu
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Kokku
authors.forename: Prabhakar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Parimi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003254:Consumer Advocacy; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D016015:Logistic Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D009938:Organizations; D016495:Police; D011477:Sex Work / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D060386:Sex Workers; D012931:Social Environment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors