Violence in Commercial Sex Work: A Case Study on the Impact of Violence Among Commercial Female Sex Workers in India and Strategies to Combat Violence

Violence Against Women Who Sell Sex in Eastern and Southern Africa: A Scoping Review

Women who sell sex (WSS) are vulnerable to violence. We present a scoping review of the last decade of research on the prevalence and incidence of, factors associated with, and services regarding violence against WSS in Eastern and Southern African (ESA). A systematic search of various databases resulted in 20 papers being reviewed. Inclusion criteria, applied by the first two authors, were as follows: empirical papers, key research problem is violence against WSS, and conducted in ESA countries. The lifetime prevalence of violence revealed in the studies ranged from 21% to 82%. A pattern of generalized violence against WSS from paying clients, male partners, strangers, family members, friends/acquaintances, and the authorities emerged. Factors associated with violence included the context within which the sex work occurs, alcohol use, type of sex exchange interactions, and personal factors (low education, low income, marriage, youth, high client volume, time in sex work, forced sexual debut, and internalized sex work stigma). WSS seldom access services after violence. Evaluations of two programs, a woman-focused HIV intervention, and the Diagonal Interventions to Fast-Forward Reproductive Health project, showed improvements in gender-based violence services. Findings suggest that targeted programmes should be paired with improving general health services and focus on promoting collective agency among WSS.

Occupational Health and Safety among Female Commercial Sex Workers in Ghana: A Qualitative Study

The topic of occupational health and safety (OHS) has been investigated for many years and continues to be a concept often researched today. Generally speaking, OHS research has been centered around food safety, construction safety, transportation safety, fire safety, drug and alcohol testing, health and medical management, and industrial hygiene, to name a few. However, the concept of OHS concerning female commercial sex workers (FCSWs) has rarely been investigated, often neglected, seldom discussed, and is lacking in sound research. Although regarded as the “oldest profession”, commercial sex work (CSW) has consistently been ignored, disregarded, and under-researched due to the illegality and stigmatization of prostitution. This paper reviews occupational safety and health issues faced by FCSWs in Tema and Accra, Ghana, through in-depth interviews, visits to women’s homes, fieldwork, informal conversations, and observations with FCSWs during the summer of May 2012–July 2012. Facets of OHS that emerged among FCSWs included: sexually transmissible infections, risks associated with harassment and violence from police and clients, alcohol and drug use, irregular hospital visits or lack of hospital visits, immigration issues, legal hazards, and working conditions. We argue that CSW be viewed as an occupation in great need of interventions to reduce workplace risks.

Examination of Identity Negotiation, Sexual Health Behavior, and Healthcare-Seeking Behavior of Transgender Sex Workers in India

The current study, which expects to fill in the gap in research on transgender sex workers in India, examines the sexual identity negotiation, risk perception and condom compliance, sexual health screening and testing behavior, contextual barriers to healthcare seeking, and barriers to community mobilization among this population. The study was conducted in the red-light districts of Kolkata and rural subdivisions of West Bengal, and Eastern India. Transgender sex workers comprise 15% of the sex workers’ populace in India, yet they are an understudied and underserved group in the commercial sex sector. It is anticipated that the study will help to formulate future programmatic interventions that can cater more effectively to the health needs of Indian transgender commercial sex workers, contribute to the HIV/STI risk reduction among this group, and reduce barriers to attaining health.

Community-Based Strategies as Transformative Approaches for Health Promotion and Empowerment among Commercial Sex Workers in India

The current paper examines the utilization of community mobilization as a strategic health communication technique in an intervention to reduce human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and sexually transmitted infections (STI) rates among marginalized and at-risk populations such as commercial female sex workers in a red-light district in India. The research documents the struggles of a historically exploited community in India to mitigate its marginalization through implementation of a multilayered strategy of capacity building and economic empowerment. Semi-structured interviews of 37 commercial female sex workers were conducted in a red-light district of India. Qualitative analysis of the interview transcripts showed the prevalence of three themes which demonstrated the different facets of the community mobilization framework within the context of a health communication intervention. The findings of this research delineate how STI risk reduction as well as participation and empowerment can be achieved through a community-based health promotion project targeted towards commercial female sex workers within the context of their lived realities of marginalization and oppression.