nder bias. A second arrest for either can result in a felony charge (Campbell). Additionally, laws requiring licensed prostitutes in Nevada to get regular HIV tests were enacted and are enforced on a regular basis by inspectors. Due to the stigmatization of prostitutes in today’s society, vocational training is not readily available as a support service to a prostitute seeking an occupational change and even less available to an HIV infected prostitute with a “seropositive” status and criminal record, there is little recourse for the infected prostitute to seek other avenues of employment.Another minority group affected is the I.V. Drug User. Statistically, more drug users are men and more research has been done on the male drug user and consequently the intravenous or injection drug user (IDU) subculture than any other group. The drug use behavior of the males IDUs is often clandestine; it is a behavior that they engage in with other men and keep secret from their female partners (Campbell). I found it interesting that IDU’s are depicted as “a dark, pathological threat” once again linking the HIV positive and AIDS victim to the dark side of the definition of stigma, the mark of infamy and reproach (Lupton 16). The female sex partners of these men are not often aware of their partners’ past or present drug use, making the majority of them at as great a risk as the female drug user. This issue affects much of the population as current research has indicated. Prostitution of men and women linked to this IDU behavior causes emotional dependency and involvement between user and user. Drug using prostitutes are four times likelier to contract AIDS and crack houses have been identified as important locations for heterosexual transmission of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs); crack usage also identified with the spread of AIDS among adolescents. Additionally, the minority g...
