Inner City Sex Workers Research Paper

Introduction The topic that is being investigated is the factors that are correlated to the occupation of sex workers. Understanding mental health and physical health problems in sex workers can lead to a better perspective on sex workers as people. Many sex workers especially, street workers are categorized as drugies and other derogatory names however this generalization is offensive and inaccurate. Throughout these articles physical health and mental health are examined. Physical health is broken down into three categories; work setting, violence and drug abuse, and mental health disorders.
Mental Health Sex worker’s mental health covers a wide variety of psychological factors. For instance the scholarly journals focus on the work …show more content…
Many sex workers have symptoms of depression and post traumatic stress disorder. Depressive symptoms are common in sex workers. For example, in the article “General Health Problems of Inner-City Sex Workers: A Pilot Study”, 75 mostly African American women were aimed to examine the general health problems of inner-city sec workers. In the study it was found that many participants had depressive thoughts and thoughts of suicide. In a similar study, by Roxburgh et al. (2006), examined 72 participants, of those 87% had depressive symptoms, 74% had thoughts of suicide, and 42% had attempted suicide. PTSD is also a common mental health issue among sex workers which is understandable due to the high rates of traumatic events they witness or experience. In the article, “The Motivation and Mental Health of Sex Workers”, 55 women from Israel were examined to aid the understanding of motivation for sex work and mental issues. In the study 17% of women had met the criteria for PTSD. In the study by Roxburgh et al. (2006), of the 72 participants 47% met the DSM-IV diagnosis of PTSD. These symptoms are present yet many sex workers do not have knowledge about health care or do not seem to have their mental health as a priority. Many are not insurance or do not have Medicaid and or do not know how to obtain health coverage …show more content…
For instance in the article “General Health Problems of Inner-City Sex Workers: A Pilot Study” women had a considerable number of health concerns. At a local van that helps sex workers several sex workers had respiratory problems, strokes due to drug use, dental problems, lip burns from drugs, facial rashes, sores, herpes, frost bits, ulcers, and many other health concerns. In this study none of the sex workers mentioned HIV or AIDS. In a similar article “A Continuum of risk? The Management of Health, Physical and Emotional Risks by Female Sex Workers”, 55 participants from a large British city aim to examine “the nature of risk in prostitution, sex workers’ routines and the organizational features of the sex industry” (Sanders, 2004). Respondents were initially contacted through a sexual health promotion project. These women were generally aware physical health issues all the women confirmed that they used condoms regularly with clients. Clients did express to concerns in regards to sexually transmitted diseases and HIV. Health risks do not seem to be as present or as high of a concern to sex workers as many would think this can be attributed to high priority concerns such as basic human needs like food and shelter. In the study, “Barriers to Health and Social Services for Street-Based Sex Workers” 586 participants and a focus group of 25 “to examine the service and needs and associated