amsterdam-ho!

what i should be doing in amsterdam

2007-06-14T17:04:00.001-07:00

Here's a link to the wiki of what I will be doing in Amsterdam....

http://courses.washington.edu/uwvks/wiki/index.php?title=Health_Information_Needs_of_Sex_Workers

Organizing an In-Depth Interview

2007-05-21T13:20:00.000-07:00

I had difficulty trying to find a contact related to the research Haley and I are going to conduct in Amsterdam. Instead, I decided it would be best to focus on healthcare and insurance and I selected a coworker from my work to get his perspective. The interview was briefer than I thought it would be and he had pretty staightforward answers to my questions. I could have created more questions to dig deeper. I found that my subject commonly answered the next question before I even asked it.

A) Fact sheet

In order to maintain the anonymity of who I interviewed, he will remain nameless. I interviewed a co-worker at my internship within the King County Library System, and asked him the questions listed below.

B) List of "things to discuss"

The purpose of this interview is for me to gain practice organizing an in-depth interview in preparation for my research in Amsterdam. Though I am focusing on the health information needs of sex workers while abroad, this interview will not be related to that topic. Instead, I would like to know your opinion of healthcare in the United States.

Your responses will not be linked to your name to ensure anonymity and confidentiality.

Some of the questions may be silly or difficult to answer, but please remember that there are no right or wrong answers. It would be great if you tried your best to answer all the questions. I am only interested in personal opinions and experiences.

Please feel free to interrupt, ask for clarification , criticize a line of questioning, etc.

I am a second year master’s student at the University of Washington’s Information School.

May I please have your permission to tape record our interview?

C) Questions:

Do you currently have medical insurance?

Are you happy with your coverage?

What do you think about the healthcare package offered at your work?

Do you think it is better or worse than what other employers offer?

What is your opinion of universal healthcare?

Some people think everyone should have equal access to healthcare. What do you think about that?
Are there any health related issues that you feel there should be more information about?

Are you happy with your ability to access health information?

Do you feel confident when searching for health information?

D) Write Up

My subject currently does have health insurance and he is pretty happy with it in relation to other insurance plans, however, he thinks it should be free. His healthcare covers subcriptions, prescriptions, eye, and other alternative medicines such as massage and accupunture. He also receives dental separately, that is very good and good for him because he doesn't go to the "doctor" that often but does go to the "dentist." He doesn't like the alternative coverage that much because he thinks it covers things that people request. But it's usually people who go to the doctor a lot, while people who have more pressing needs don't go to the doctor as much and may not have insurance.

My subject thinks that everyone should have equal access to healthcare.

The concept of e-Research

2007-05-02T07:56:00.001-07:00

Yeah, so e-Research. Given our lively discussion in class last Monday, I'm not even sure how to define research. My head hurt after that class. I like the idea of research contributing to some sort of knowledge outside of an individual alone. That that is what differentiates information from research I guess I would take that concept and apply that to eResearch as well. As long as information is being shared, in this case virtually, it can be considered research. ???? Hmmmm... I have a feeling this entry will be edited after class...

In regards to my own research, I envision using the web to find recent information on health care and prostitution. I think it would be great to create some sort of wiki or pathfinder for sex workers to use, but like Haley said, I'm not sure how utilized that would be. Studies would have to be done to see if this would be a helpful resource.

Alright, it's time to eat some birthday sushi!!!!!!

research ?-ish post

2007-04-23T14:48:00.000-07:00

The practice of pragmatic tolerance in the Netherlands resulted in the legalization of prostitution in 1988. With legalization comes the ability to regulate and provide for the workers in this industry. Yet, despite legalization many prostitutes are still not registered or considered legal. A prostitute must pay to receive the benefits of being registered and must be a citizen. Illegal immigrants and prostitutes who do not pay to be registered miss out on the benefits of health care. This has led to gaps in the health information many prostitutes receive. This lack of information has led to higher instances of STDs, drug abuse, and other health related conditions prevalent in this marginalized community of sex workers. We are conducting this study with the intention of including both legal and illegal prostitutes in order to get an accurate depiction of the industry as an all encompassing whole. In our study, we will be researching the question: What are the health information needs of sex workers in Amsterdam?

Our research on site will mostly consist of interviews. Though we are exploring the option of supplementing this with anonymous questionnaires. Field sites will include the PIC and health clinics (found by inquiry) frequented by sex workers. The online component will be found in blogs and other discussions on the topic. Perhaps creating a blog or chat on the topic ourselves would also be useful. As our research will be done as a pilot study, we will also be supplementing our study with literature such as Vanwesenbeeck’s Prostitutes' Well-Being and Risk and When Sex Becomes Work by Mariska Majoor. We will also do a literature review of previous health information studies relative to our topic.

Preliminary methods: Because we will mostly be conducting interviews, our approach will be mostly qualitative in nature. We plan to use the information we gather to draw conclusions about what health information needs are missing in the profession. If this was not a pilot study, we would take our information and create a pathfinder for prostitutes to locate this information in the future.

online manifestation

2007-04-16T11:05:00.000-07:00

Now that Haley and I have honed in our research topic, I spent some of the weekend looking at relevant links online. We're focusing on the health information needs of prostitutes, both legal and illegal. Haley may want to branch out to something else, but this will be my primary focus. Here are some "online manifestations" I found helpful:

General Information:

Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_in_the_Netherlands

"Despite the legalization, some of the working women are still illegal immigrants. These prostitutes cannot work in the windows, since a European Union passport is required to rent one."

"Health and social services are readily available, but the women are not required to undergo regular health checks. A recent study found that despite health rules, about 7 percent of Dutch prostitutes have HIV/AIDS."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Wallen

This site, called the "prostitution information center" seems like it would be helpful, but I do not read Dutch.
http://www.pic-amsterdam.com/start.html

Here's a link with links to other sights for tourists visiting the Red Light District. Some of the links are broken though, and some link to some pretty graphic ads.
http://europeforvisitors.com/amsterdam/resources/amsterdam_sex_prostitution.htm

http://www.amsterdam.info/red-light-district/

http://www.walnet.org/csis/news/world_2001/nytimes-010812.html

Child prostitution:

I'm not sure how much we're going to focus on this aspect, but this link points to several online resources with information on child prostitution and trafficking in Amsterdam.
http://www.gvnet.com/childprostitution/Netherlands.htm

Illegal immigrants/immigrants in prostitution:

From the factbook on global sexual exploitation, this site focuses on immigrants in the Netherlands. Discusses policies and law too.
http://www.catwinternational.org/factbook/Netherlands.php

Health issues:

This conference paper with an abstract listed on the National Library of Medicine's NIH page. May prove helpful. It covers a peer education project for migrant and drug addicted prostitutes.
http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov/MeetingAbstracts/102220887.html

This site has a list of helpful health resources for sex workers specifically focusing on HIV/AIDS.
http://www.thebody.com/index/whatis/sexwork_resources.html

Miscellany:

I thought this PDF article was interesting and cites Mariska Majoor, and Miriam who is in contact with the University of Amsterdam. I suspect this paper will help guide Haley and I through our research.
http://www.humanityinaction.org/docs/LIbrary/2000%20Extracted/Banerjee,_Boesten___Worthen_2000_Illegal_Prostitutes_in_the_NL.pdf

Nothing in technorati really panned out. There is obviously a wealth of information on our topic available online. I learned that illegal prostitution is quite rampant, and that health information needs really do need to be addressed despite the claim that prostitutes have easy access to this information.

I usually look for sources based on their credibility. I plan on analyzing some of the sources based on their accuracy and ability to help me gain insight into my project. I suspect I will depend on previously published papers covering similar topics.

PRI interview with Netherlands reporter re: Imus

2007-04-11T22:02:00.000-07:00

Here is a link to PRI's "The World" broadcast before class. It's an aside relevant to class regarding the recent Imus blunder. A journalist from the Netherlands speaks of the differences between commercial broadcasting in the US vs. radio personalities like Theo Van Gogh.
http://www.theworld.org/
You can listen to the interview on April 11th, by clicking on the "Imus abroad" link. It's pretty interesting and a short clip.

ideas, evidence, and ?s

2007-04-04T11:59:00.000-07:00

Before knowing much about Amsterdam, I was interested in the health information needs of sex workers. Health information is of interest to me and I have focused on it in many of my classes. After reading some news articles, and the book Murder in Amsterdam, however, there are so many more ideas that I have now. Still focusing in health information, I was thinking it would be interesting to see the cultural differences and sensitivity needs of other cultures when dealing with health care. For example, are health care professionals aware of the cultural needs of Muslim women? Are steps in place for health workers to be educated about this and other issues of comfort with varying cultural values/beliefs? Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself...

Ideas: I do know a bit about disparities that can exist between individuals and their health information needs, however, I have never focused on prostitutes specifically. Because Amsterdam has organized, legal prostitution, I surmise that it is easy to access health care information, and that it is probably readily available. With the increase in both legal and illegal immigration, however, I wonder if there are gaps in who receives the information as sex workers. I found it interesting that almost half of the residents of Amsterdam are immigrants. All health care information can be improved, and I'm wondering how that information can best be disseminated to a group of people who may be illegal prostitutes that do not receive the health care and health care information of legal prostitutes. (This is just one area of focus.)

Questions: So, the question is, "How can health related information best reach a community of illegal sex workers?" What is the best method to go about doing this? What are the health information needs anyway? How can illegal prostitutes even be found, and would they be willing to share their stories anyway? This may prove to be very difficult. On a broader note, I was thinking this health information needs idea could be expanded to all illegal immigrants, or those who do not qualify for health care. Where can they turn for this kind of information? How are they searching for this information? How are they receiving it? Via television, papers, the Internet? Which sources and how accurate are they?

Evidence: I really am not sure where the field location would be. Probably not the Red Light District, as the prostitutes who work there are legal. One news article spoke of a "Trippelzone" where there used to be streetwalking prostitution, but too many prostitutes were working there, so they started cutting down on such activities. I'm envisioning that such an area must still exist, it's the approach that would be difficult. For immigrants in general, I was thinking some sort of free health clinic would be a good starting point.

One articles pointed to these locations for health care needs: "The GG&GD (Municipal Health Services) plays a large role in supplying prostitutes with information and care. They provide regular surgeries, projects for various target groups and a free or low-cost clinic for sexually transmitted diseases. A number of smaller organizations, such as the Prostitutes' Union ‘Stichting de Rode Draad’ (literally 'The Red Thread', but meaning 'The Common Thread') and the ‘Prostitutie Informatie Centrum’ (Prostitutes' Information Centre), also provides information and support to prostitutes on all issues and problems. ‘AMOC’ and ‘Regenboog’ are organizations that focus their efforts on helping prostitutes with drug habits." I was thinking these locations would have suggestions on where to go.

Evidence could be found in interviews with sex workers and with care providers to see where there are gaps in health information and how to get that information to sex workers in the best form possible.

Submission response

2007-03-28T15:05:00.000-07:00

As a person who has several friends who are Muslim, and from the conversations I have had with them, I found the film Submission by Theo Van Gogh to be extremely bias and ignorant of traditions that exist within Muslim culture. The use of selections from the Koran drawn on women is meant to illustrate the abuse the word of Allah casts upon women. It is clear from the imagery that the film intends to take the text literally and does not open it up for adaptation and interpretation. Most religious texts, the Bible for example, have verses that can be viewed as degrading. So why this special focus on the Koran as being derogatory? There are detriments to individuals in most non-secular writings. It seems to me that opponents of the Muslim religion, and of Muslims in general, are using the Koran as a scapegoat to prove their point that Muslim culture does not blend with westernized ideals.

A look to responses to the film yield mixed reviews. Some regard the film as ignorant and misappropriated. Others see it as “groundbreaking” and “finally, someone is revealing the truth.” I for one, am more of the mind that the film is too one-sided to be regarded as having any true insight into the lives of Muslim women. Though the film is aesthetically beautiful, its biases make it seem more like propaganda that a true portrayal of these women’s lives.