Tricking and Tripping Fieldwork on Prostitution in the Era of AIDS Analysis
In the selection “Tricking and Tripping: Fieldwork on Prostitution in the Era of AIDS,” cultural anthropologist Claire E. Sterk introduces her study of prostitution as a women’s health issue. Sterk describes the basic field work methods she implemented in an attempt to discover the relationship between prostitution and drug use, the impact of the AIDS epidemic on prostitution, and the effects of the occupation on the women themselves. ... Sterk goes on to elucidate the information she sought in the hopes of understanding the lives of these women: she wanted to know how the women got started in prostitution, the link between prostitution and drug use, the interactions of the women with pimps and customers, and the impact of AIDS and violence on women in the profession. ... , taxi drivers) experts to divulge the locations of areas well-known for prostitution. ... They are: 1) The explanations women give for their involvement in prostitution, including traumatic experiences, lack of love, pressures from pimps and friends, drug addiction, and the economy.