A Descriptive Profile of Abused Female Sex Workers in India

This descriptive study presents the profiles of abused female sex workers (FSWs) in Chennai, India. Of 100 abused FSWs surveyed using a structured questionnaire, severe forms of violence by intimate partners were reported by most (98%) respondents. Of the total sample, 76% experienced violence by cl...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of health, population and nutrition population and nutrition, 2010-06, Vol.28 (3), p.211-220
Main Authors: Panchanadeswaran, Subadra, Johnson, Sethulakshmi C, Sivaram, Sudha, Srikrishnan, A K, Zelaya, Carla, Solomon, Suniti, Go, Vivian F, Celentano, David
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abused women
Adult abuse & neglect
AIDS
Battered Women - statistics & numerical data
Coercion
Crimes against
Demographic aspects
Descriptive studies
Female
HIV
Humans
India
Intimate partner violence
Intimate partners
Intimate relationships
Original Papers
Physical force
Prostitutes
Psychological aspects
Sex crimes
Sex Offenses - statistics & numerical data
Sex roles
Sex Work
Sex workers
Sexual abuse
Sexual Partners
Sexual violence
Spousal abuse
Spouse abuse
Surveys
Verbal threats
Violence
Violence - statistics & numerical data
Violence against women
Women
Womens health
Workers
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This descriptive study presents the profiles of abused female sex workers (FSWs) in Chennai, India. Of 100 abused FSWs surveyed using a structured questionnaire, severe forms of violence by intimate partners were reported by most (98%) respondents. Of the total sample, 76% experienced violence by clients. Sexual coercion experiences of the FSWs included verbal threats (77%) and physical force (87%) by intimate part-ners and forced unwanted sexual acts (73%) by clients. While 39% of the women consumed alcohol before meeting a client, 26% reported that their drunkenness was a trigger for violence by clients. The findings suggest that there is an urgent need to integrate services, along with public-health interventions among FSWs to protect them from violence. Recognition of multiple identities of women in the contexts of inti-mate relationships versus sex work is vital in helping women to stay safe from adverse effects on health.
ISSN:1606-0997
2072-1315
DOI:10.3329/jhpn.v28i3.5546