Let's go for a walk: sexual decision-making among clients of female entertainment service workers in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Cambodia is a noteworthy success story in responding to HIV/AIDS, in particular through the emphasis on “most at risk populations” as key targeted HIV-prevention groups. However, evidence shows that the epidemic continues to be driven by the commercial sex industry and male clients have largely been missing from the response.

The goals of this study are fourfold: (1) to explore the sexual decision-making processes of men who regularly patronise high-risk entertainment venues; (2) to identify key behaviour patterns and social inducements that lead high-risk men to frequently have sex with entertainment workers; (3) to locate decisive junctures in the course of men’s socialising when a decision to not seek the services of an entertainment worker could be made; and (4) to produce a series of personalised archetypes that can be used by programmers to frame behaviour change messaging for entertainment establishment based HIV-prevention interventions.