ESTIMA: Economic and Social Empowerment To Increase Upwards Mobility Among Women

The ESTIMA program will consist of the 1) Via microfinance program, which includes providing women with monetary loans as a group (approximately 10 women, with repayment as a group) and training them to initiate a business or other investment endeavor, and 2) gender equity community mobilization, which involves initiating groups of women (i.e. collectives) and engaging in social action within the community, with a focus on addressing issues relevant to gender inequities and women's economic mobility and power (such as client or police violence/harassment). Like the IMAGE program in South Africa, community mobilization will be incorporated into the Via microfinance trainings.

Priorities of mobilization efforts will be identified by the ESTIMA collectives, and facilitated by the election of collective leaders. As part of the microfinance efforts, women will be provided with a loan of up to $200 each and will support each other by agreeing to all be responsible to repay the loan as a group. While the amount is small, women can take out more money with subsequent loans to help them support the business.

The outcome evaluation of ESTIMA will employ a randomized controlled design. From the parent study (Dr. Brouwer, PI;R01 DA028692), we will recruit at least 120 participants in expectation to afford a final sample size of at least 48 in each group (using a conservative estimate of 80% retention). Eligible and willing participants will be randomized to treatment assignment (ESTIMA or wait-list control group) using a randomizer software package, after baseline data collection for the proposed research. The wait-list control group will be provided with referrals to local FSW support organizations, as the standard of care, and will receive ESTIMA subsequent to the 12 month follow-up data collection. ESTIMA will involve groups of approximately 10 women each; groups will initiate once sufficient numbers are enrolled (i.e. groups will be staggered in initiation of the ESTIMA program). Data collection will include a behavioral survey as well as HIV/STI testing.

This combined program addresses economic vulnerability while also supporting women via community mobilization to address challenging social conditions at work, in the community, and at home. This work affords an opportunity to evaluate the efficacy of a microfinance-based initiative to improve health outcomes among an economically vulnerable population of women, many who have been trafficked into sex work, and who face dire economic circumstances to support their families and children. The randomized controlled evaluation design will be among the first implemented among sex workers and among the few implemented globally to evaluate a microfinance-based program in terms of improving health outcomes. Such a robust design will be key to providing evidence needed regarding the efficacy of the ESTIMA program, and implications of the utility of microfinance as a means of HIV prevention among this population.