Throughout the world the majority of interventions to prevent sexually transmitted infections (STI) including HIV that are related to prostitution or "commercial sex" have focused on female sex workers. The traditional epidemiological point of view has depicted the female sex worker as a vector of disease and has promoted programs to prevent female sex workers from infecting others. 

Social science offers an alternative framework that assumes that the spread of HIV cannot be attributed to the behavior of the female sex worker alone. The complex social and sexual networks related to prostitution involve not only the female sex worker, but also her male clients, the sexual partners of these male clients, and the noncommercial sexual partners of the female sex worker. Given the existence of such a range of sexual networks and the unequal power dynamics implicit in the sex worker-client relationship, it is imperative from both a public health and gender perspective to involve both female sex workers and their male clients in activities aimed at reducing HIV/STIs.

This research builds on a work conducted by the Population Council's Horizons program, the 100 percent condom use study in the Dominican Republic. This project has been credited with increasing condom use and lowering rates of STIs among female sex workers. The specific objective of this study is to provide the evidence base for the development of future HIV/STI prevention strategies oriented toward men.