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February 28, 2026PLoS ONEOpen Access

Mapping of sex work hotspots to guide targeted HIV prevention: Evidence from eight Ukrainian cities

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Authors

OKOksana KovtunOCOlga CheshunOPOksana Pashchuk

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Overview

Maps sex work venues in Ukraine, revealing gaps in HIV prevention coverage for key populations.

Key Points

  • The study aims to identify and characterize sex work hotspots in Ukraine and assess their HIV prevention service coverage.
  • Conducted a two-stage, multi-informant mapping study in 2021 across eight cities.
  • Interviewed 1,212 secondary and 2,277 primary key informants, including sex workers.
  • Characterized hotspots by type, perceived safety, access modality, operating schedule, and SW subgroups.
  • Employed descriptive statistics and multivariable mixed-effects regression to analyze service coverage.
  • Identified 2,581 hotspots, with 2,118 (82.1%) validated as active.
  • Common hotspot types included apartments (43.2%), virtual platforms (11.7%), and street-based sites (11.1%).
  • Only 13.7% of hotspots were registered in the national HIV service registry.
  • 34.1% of hotspots received prevention services, while 18.9% were reached by mobile vans.
  • Service coverage was higher at street-based venues and positively correlated with perceived safety and 24/7 operation.

Cite This Study

Kovtun et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69a287570a974eb0d3c02fa5https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0343803
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