Facilitating condom use with clients during commercial sex in Nevada's legal brothels

Objectives. This study examined condom use in legal Nevada brothels. Methods. Forty female prostitutes in two brothels were interviewed about client resistance to condoms and techniques for facilitating condom use. Results. Of 3290 clients in the previous month, 2.7% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.2%, 3.4%) were reluctant to use condoms. Of these individuals, 72% ultimately used condoms, while 12% chose nonpenetrative sex without condoms. The remaining 16% left the brothels without services. Condom use rates were markedly lower with nonpaying sex partners (lovers) than with clients. Conclusions. Brothel prostitutes may be at greater risk for acquiring HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases from lovers than from clients.