Reviewof literature suggests that there many studies conducted in sex work. Thepresent preface deals with the empirical approach to the current study.SoniKewalramani & Shreya Srivastava, (2017), conducted a study titled “Self-efficacyand positive life -orientation in prostitutes”.
the objective of the study wasto measure the self-efficacy and positive life orientation in prostitutes andgeneral population female. it was hypothesized that self-efficacy and positivelife orientation was higher in female sex workers compared to generalpopulation female. The sample of the current study involved 50 female sex workersand 50 general population females. Variables were measured with the help ofSelf-efficacy Scale (G.P. Mathur &Raj Kumari Bhatnagar) and Positive lifeorientation Scale (Manju Agrawal & Ajit.K.
Dalal). However, with propert-test, the hypothesis was rejected and the result showed that self-efficacywas lower in female sex workers than in general population and the thatpositive life orientation was stable in both the population. On contrary, Kalemi G, Gkioka S, et.al (2017), organizedastudy on”stigma and self esteem:A case of HIV+ve sex workers “. theobjective of the study was to measure the uncommon stigmatization of sexualworkers through media as a risk of public health as well as criminals due totheir seropositivity. Sample size of the study was 27 who were HIV+ve.
Datawere collected through semi-structured interview during which personal andmedical history was taken and Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale was alsoadministered. For qualitative interview, Interpretative PhenomenologicalAnalysis(IPA) was used. Despite the stigma no change in the self-esteem and stableself- destructive behaviours are seen. Researcher reports that this might bedue to proper coping strategies developed by the female sex workers.In2015, Melissa Farley who conducted an extensive research on prostitution in theUS in 2015, observes in her “Prostitution: Fact sheet on Human RightsViolations”, that prostitution involves sexual harassment, battering, verbalabuse, childhood sexual abuse, and violation of human rights. Farley writes,”Whether it is being sold by one’s family to a brothel, or whether it isbeing sexually abused in one’s family, running away from home, and then beingpimped by one’s boyfriend, or whether one is in college and needs to pay fornext semester’s tuition and one works at a strip club behind glass where mennever actually touch you – all these forms of prostitution hurt the women init.” Qiao S, et al. (2014) conducted a study onPsychological Fears among Low-Paid Female Sex Workers in Southwest China andTheir Implications for HIV Prevention.
Compared with other women ofreproductive age, female sex workers are taking a disproportionately highburden of HIV infection due to behavioural, biological and structural risk factors.These female sex workers are more vulnerable and prone to be infected comparedto other people, since “clients” refuse to use protective devices or methods.Quantitative research was conducted through survey and includedsocio-demographic data and questions related to work, HIV awareness, HIVsusceptibility, psychological fears, consistent use of condoms with clients andHIV testing and HIV prevention service utilization. Average frequency,proportion, correlation, chi-square test and one-way ANOVA were done in theanalysis part. Here the study states that low paid sex workers are more proneto be infected due to their socioeconomic status, life history and workingenvironment.Kasthuri.Pandiyan,. Chandra Shekar,et.
al (2014) conducted a study on “A Study ofPsychological Morbidity among Female Sex Workers”. The study was undertaken toassess the psychiatric morbidity in female commercial sex workers likely who are likely to be involved in sexual highrisk taking behaviour. Sample included 30 consecutive sex workers who areattending psychiatric OPD at Victoria Hospital. Information was collected usinga semi structured proforma, MINI, Beck depression scale, Beck suicide intentscale and OT I. Results in the current study indicates that psychiatric morbidityand psychosocial behaviour leads to high sex behavaiour. Almost most of theinterviewed sex workers had sexual partners and have clients more than 5-6 aday. They have not used any protective devices also.
All sex workers hadpracticed anal sex and most of them had group sex too.RemediosT. Navarro (2014) conducted a study on “Self-esteem InfluencesDepressive Symptoms among Female Sex Workers”.
The objective of the study was To determine to which extend do FSWexperinece depressive symptoms and how their demographic, medical file pro andself-esteem is relate with it. Tools to measure were the Rosenberg Self-EsteemScale and the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Datawere analysed through frequency, percentage, mean and simple correlationalanalysis. The results show thatSelf-esteem is inversely related to the level of depressive symptoms.
The lowerthe level of self-esteem, the higher is the level of depressive symptoms andvice versa.Anotherstudy was conducted by Sayantan Ghosal , Smarajat Jana,et.al (2013), “Sexworkers, stigma, and belief; evidence from a psychological training programfrom India”.
The current study is a field experiment that was done in Kolkata.The study examines whether psychological empowerment can weaken self-perceptionimposed by social exclusion. Theintervention held in Kolkata had a good impact in sex workers and that resultsfound a positive and significant impact of psychological training onself-reported measures of agency, self-esteem and happiness.
The findinghighlighted the need to account for psychological factors and in the design ofanti-poverty programmes.DipakSuryawanshi, Tarun Bhatnagar, et.al (2013), conducted a survey on ” Diversity among Clients of Female SexWorkers in India: Comparing Risk Profiles and Intervention Impact by Site ofSolicitation. Implications for the Vulnerability of Less Visible Female SexWorkers”. The objective of the study was to analyze the risk environments andvulnerability of both partners.
The tool used was Integrated Biological andBehavioural Assessment survey in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.Results show that commercial sex happens between two partners and both need tobe, and can be, reached by intervention messages. Commercial sex is stilllargely unprotected and as the sex industry gets more diffuse a greater focuson reaching clients of sex workers seems important given their extensive sexualnetworks.Dr.
Subadra Panchanadeswaran, et al. (2010) conducted a study on ” a descriptiveprofile of abused sex workers in India”. This descriptive study presents theprofiles of abused female sex workers (FSWs) in Chennai, India. Of 100 abusedFSWs surveyed using a structured questionnaire, severe forms of violence byintimate partners were reported by most (98%) respondents.
Of the total sample,76% experienced violence by clients. Sexual coercion experiences of the FSWsincluded verbal threats (77%) and physical force (87%) by intimate partners andforced unwanted sexual acts (73%) by clients. While 39% of the women consumedalcohol before meeting a client, 26% reported that their drunkenness was atrigger for violence by clients. The findings suggest that there is an urgentneed to integrate services, along with public-health interventions among FSWsto protect them from violence.
Recognition of multiple identities of women inthe contexts of intimate relationships versus sex work is vital in helpingwomen to stay safe from adverse effects on health.RösslerW1, et al. (2010), Department of General and Social Psychiatry, PsychiatricUniversity Hospital Zurich, Switzerland, conducted a study about “the mentalhealth of female sex workers” which reveals as the a quota-sampling strategywas the best possible alternative.
Sex workers were contacted at differentlocations in the city of Zurich. They were interviewed with a computerizedversion of the World Health Organization Composite International DiagnosticInterview. Additional information was assessed in a structured face-to-faceinterview. It was found that 193 interviewed female sex workers displayed highrates of mental disorders. These mental disorders were related to violence andthe subjectively perceived burden of sex work.RakhiDandona, Lalit Dandona, et.
al (2006), conducted a study on “Demography and sexwork characteristics of female sex workers in India”. Detailed documentation of demography and various aspects of sex work wasdone through confidential interviews of 6648 FSWs in 13 districts in the Indianstate of Andhra Pradesh. The demography of FSWs was compared with that of womenin the general population. A total of 5010 (75.4%), 1499 (22.5%), and 139(2.1%) street-, home-, and brothel-based FSWs, respectively, participated.Comparison with women of Andhra Pradesh revealed that the proportion of thoseaged 20–34 years (75.
6%), belonging to scheduled caste (35.3%) and scheduledtribe (10.5%), illiterate (74.7%), and of those separated/divorced (30.7%) washigher among FSWs (p < 0.001). The FSWs engaged in sex work for >5 yearswere more likely to be non-street-based FSWs, illiterate, living in small urbantowns, and to have started sex work between 12–15 years of age. The mean age atstarting sex work (21.
7 years) and gap between the first vaginal intercourseand the first sexual intercourse in exchange for money (6.6 years) was lowerfor FSWs in the rural areas as compared with those in large urban areas (23.9years and 8.8 years, respectively). These data highlight that women strugglingwith illiteracy, lower social status, and less economic opportunities areespecially vulnerable to being infected by HIV, as sex work may be one of thefew options available to them to earn money. Recommendations for actions aremade for long-term impact on reducing the numbers of women being infected byHIV in addition to the current HIV prevention efforts in India.MaritaP.
McCab, & George Taleporos (2001), conducteda study on ” Sexual Esteem, Sexual Satisfaction, and Sexual attitude AmongPeople With Physical Disability”. Theobjective of the study was to measure association between the severity andduration of physical disability and sexual esteem, sexual depression, sexualsatisfaction, and the frequency of sexual behavior. The sample of the study was1,196 participants completed the study.
748 participants (367 males, 381 females) who had a physical disabilityand 448 participants (171 males, 277 females) who were able-bodied. Data werecollected from Multidimensional Sexual Self-Concept Questionnaire, Snell &Papini, (1989), Sexual Frequency Scale, Sexual satisfaction was measured using a single item that asked,”Looking back over the past 6 months, how sexually satis?ed do you feeloverall?”( 1 (extremely dissatis?ed) to 5 (extremely satis?ed).), Physical Disability Sexual and BodyEsteem(PDSBE). The samples were analysed with the help of chi-square test.Results demonstrate that people with more severe physical impairments experiencedsigni?cantly lower levels of sexual esteem and sexual satisfaction andsigni?cantly higher levels of sexual depression than people who had mildimpairments or who did not report having a physical impairment.
Schisselet al.(1999) explored the “culture of violence” experienced by young prostitutesby analyzing youth probation files in Regina and Saskatoon. In addition touncovering high levels of childhood physical and sexual abuse among youthprostitutes, the authors find several examples of indirect and directvictimization. As the authors note: “”prostitution creates a context inwhich those youth who are involved will run a high risk of being damaged by apredator or by themselves – whether directly through assault and self-injury orindirectly through high-risk behaviour””Minichiello,et al. (1999) examined customers of male prostitutes by asking male sex workerstheir perceptions of the characteristics of clients. One hundred and eighty-sixsex workers participated in the study, providing information on 2,088encounters and profiles for 1,776 clients. Most clients were perceived as being”middle class.
” “Rich” clients tended to use services provided by an escortagency, while “poor” clients used the services of street workers. Most clientswere identified as being gay (45%) or bisexual (31.3%).
Drug and alcohol use byclients before the sexual encounter was uncommon. Customer violence wasreported infrequently (occurring more frequently with street clients than withother types of clients.Dorais(1996) suggested that some male victims of childhood sexual abuse might becomeinvolved in “aggressive prostitution” as a means of diverting revenge againstthe true aggressor.Whilefocusing on the psychological development of young prostitutes and thepsychological impact of being involved in the sex trade, Coleman (1989) foundthat disruptions in the psychosexual and psychological development of youngmales may contribute to their participation in “”destructive and non-egoenhancing prostitution activities.”Manyyouth who run away from home (as noted above, often from physically andsexually abusive home environments) may be drawn to the streets by a sense ofexcitement and a desire for money and independence (Michaud, 1988). However,once on the streets, the research indicates that some of these youth may turnto prostitution as a means of subsistence. He noted that problems associatedwith homelessness (such as youth unemployment) provide the impetus for someyouth to enter prostitution as a source of income.
