The lived experience of UK street-based sex workers and the health consequences: An exploratory study
Mellor, Rebecca Lovell, Andy
Mellor, Rebecca
Lovell, Andy
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EPub Date
Publication Date
2011-07-03
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Abstract
The complex, difficult lives and subsequent health issues of street-based female sex workers are well documented. This paper explores the health needs of a group of sex workers in one geographical locality in the north-west of England. Interviews were conducted with a number of women currently engaged in sex work, with the aim of identifying factors maintaining them in this work and examining their experience of health and health-related services. A thematic analysis revealed considerable life circumstance complexity, with violence, drugs, alcohol and housing problems being prevalent factors. The combination of such factors compounds the likelihood of the women's social exclusion. Other themes related to the casual perception the women had of their own health needs, their generally poor experience of services and the demonstrable impact of one specific service in supporting a group so reluctant to engage. The study suggests poor understanding of the complex needs of street-based sex workers by both services and professionals, particularly a failure to engage with the reality of these women's lives and the factors that maintain them in this work.
Citation
Health Promotion International, 27(3), 2011, pp. 311-322
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Journal
Health Promotion International
Research Unit
DOI
10.1093/heapro/dar040
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PubMed Central ID
Type
Article
Language
en
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Series/Report no.
ISSN
0957-4824
EISSN
1460-2245