NCJ Number
209576
Journal
Aggression and Violent Behavior Volume: 10 Issue: 2 Dated: January-February 2005 Pages: 153-170
Date Published
January 2005
Length
18 pages
Annotation
Drawing on a literature review and on the authors' knowledge and experience from years of direct work with sex workers in urban areas, this article conceptualizes the mutually reinforcing link among violence, drug use, and risk for HIV/AIDS among women involved in street-level prostitution.
Abstract
The authors' research and that of others documents the pervasiveness of witnessed or indirect violence in the daily lives of street-level prostitutes both within and outside the activities of prostitution. There is also evidence that exposure to indirect violence may lead to experimentation with and the first use of drugs as a means of coping with the emotional trauma linked to life in a violent environment. Further, exposure to indirect violence leads to the erosion of self-esteem, a factor in chronic depression and anxiety. The risks inherent to street-level prostitution, notably sexual contact with partners with HIV infection and intravenous drug use, further increase prostitutes' risk for HIV infection. This occurs in an environment with limited support services for dealing with trauma. Agencies responsible for interventions to protect citizens from harms to their health should target women who have been exposed to indirect violence for prolonged periods of time. Intervention for street-level prostitutes must be attentive to the effects of exposure to a violent environment that induces trauma, drug abuse as a coping mechanism, and attendant risks for HIV infection. 96 references