In 2006, St. James Infirmary published a study stating that our participants who are working in exclusively independent venues have higher rates of HIV and sexually transmitted infections than those who are organized and working collectively (Cohan et al., 2006). Although increasing the number of people working collectively could decrease HIV/STI rates, organizing is an underutilized strategy due to the criminal aspect of prostitution in the US. In 2007, our staff worked on a formative evaluation using podcast media as a health promotion and organizing tool for Sex Workers with Internet access. The first step of this project was presented in May 2007 at the International Harm Reduction Conference in Barcelona, Spain. Following this, we recruited participants from the clinic to be trained in social media to produce a podcast. Our project methodology was participatory and peer-based, complimenting the networked, community-driven nature of podcasting. This training program will be presented at the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City this August.
