The authors of a 2011 paper on sex workers in India have lost the article in a dispute over the provenance of the data.
The article, “Health of Home-Based Sex Workers and their Children in Rural Andhra Pradesh, India,” appeared in Asian Population Studies and was written by Monique M. Hennink and Solveig A. Cunningham, both of the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta.
Here’s the abstract:
This study uses secondary data from 2006 to assess the physical and mental health of rural, home-based sex workers and their young children in rural Andhra Pradesh state of India. The analyses of survey and clinical data show a high level of morbidity amongst sex worker women and their children. Women show high levels of nutritional deficiencies, anaemia, weight loss and hospitalisation. Women’s mental health is particularly serious, with 92 per cent being depressed and 57 per cent having attempted suicide. The majority have experienced domestic and work-related violence, including rape. Clinical assessments of sex workers’ children show that most have received vaccinations, but almost half have parasites, dental problems and nutritional deficiencies. Both the physical and mental health of sex worker mothers are associated with the health of their children. Therefore, health interventions focusing on sex worker mothers have the potential to improve the health of their children.
And the retraction:
We, the Editor and the Publisher of Asian Population Studies, are retracting the following article at the request of the authors:
Hennink, M. M., & Cunningham, S. A. (2011). Health of Home-Based Sex Workers and their Children in Rural Andhra Pradesh, India. Asian Population Studies, 7:2, 157–173, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17441730.2011.576822. Version of Record published online 20 June 2011.
The authors analysed these data at the request of Mr. Brian Willis, acknowledged in the article. The article is being retracted due to a miscommunication on data use. The authors stand by the quality of the analysis and the results presented. They accept that the Editors and Publishers of the article received, reviewed and published the work in good faith, and bear no responsibility for the retraction.
The paper has been cited once, according to Thomson Scientific’s Web of Knowledge. We’ve tried to contact the authors for more details, and will update with anything we learn.