Sunny Sinha, a Ph.D. candidate in Social Work from the University of South Carolina, will present a preview of her dissertation, “Women in non brothel-based sex work in India: Using ‘cultural biography’ to understand risk perceptions.” The event is co-sponsored by the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies, the Office of International Programs, the Departments of Health, Exercise Science, & Leisure Management and Sociology & Anthropology.

Sinha on her dissertation: “My dissertation research aims at understanding how women in non-brothel based sex work in Kolkata, India perceive their risk of HIV in the context of other risk experiences in their lives. This study departs from the prevalent KABP (Knowledge, Attitudes, Beliefs, Practices) survey based approach used in most risk related studies among sex workers in India by using ‘cultural biography’, a method that combines the use of life history and ethnography to examine the complex interplay between numerous factors (individual, cultural, social, political, economic) widely assumed to influence women’s perceptions of risk. This approach stands in contrast to deterministic views of individuals by analyzing them through power and agency as they influence their cultural environments.”