Sex workers to pay the price: Prostitution strategy is a missed opportunity

Abstract

Editor-Several studies have shown that in small areas-such as across a local authority-a partial smoking ban would be likely to increase health inequalities. We present what we believe is the first evidence that this is indeed the case across England as a whole.We generated a random sample of 500 pubs from a national commercial database of 36 586 English pubs, bars, and inns (Thomson directory) and referenced each pub's postcode to its index of multiple deprivation (IMD) score. 1 We telephoned each pub in our sample and asked whether it served hot food.Our power calculation showed that a sample size of 500 would permit us to contrast any two fifths of deprivation. IMD scores for England are based on an exponential scale, so we log transformed this variable for analysis.We used a t test to test the hypothesis that pubs serving hot food had the same deprivation scores as those not serving food, and repeated this analysis after excluding all town centre pubs.2 This was to deal with the possibility that town centre pubs may serve a wider population than their immediate vicinity.We obtained a response from 483 (96.6%) of the pubs (table).Pubs that serve hot food have lower IMD scores than those that do not (t = − 6.07, difference in mean log IMD score − 0.35, 95% confidence interval − 0.47 to − 0.24; P < 0.0001). This remains significant when pubs in town centres are excluded (n = 382; t = − 5.99, difference in mean log IMD score − 0.42, -0.56 to − 0.28; P < 0.0001).Our nationwide study confirms that the proposed partial smoking ban is set to exacerbate health inequalities from smoking andsecondhand smoke, through a dispro portionate increase in the number of smoke free pubs in affluent areas of England.

Community-based HIV prevention research among substance-using women in survival sex work: The Maka Project Partnership

“…High rates of health and drug-related harms, including violence and victimization, persist among women in open street-level sex worker markets in cities across Canada, and globally [ 27 , 28 , 50 , 51 ]. Yet despite a highly publicized HIV epidemic and ongoing prevention and harm reduction interventions targeting injection drug users in this setting, there remains a clear lack of policy and interventions tailored to promoting the health and safety of substance-using women working in survival sex work.…”

Experiences and challenges of Prostitute Women in Iran: A phenomenological qualitative study

“…Physical violence and bodily harm to women, verbal harm, and violence, not paying the agreed money, and even theft of women's money, along with forced sex, involuntary unusual sexual relationship, group sex by force, compulsion not to use protective and prophylactic devices are some aspects of the violence which prostituted women in this study mentioned. Various studies have shown that violence against prostituted women is a common phenomenon [ 25 , 26 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 ]. Farley M et al., 2004 and Scorgie F et al., 2013 showed that violence against prostituted women is a norm and sexual and physical harassment, verbal humiliation, and torturing are forms of this violence [ 14 , 43 ].…”

“…The study results showed that suicide attempts, addiction, infection of sexually transmitted diseases, especially HIV, and unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion are some prostituted women's experiences in their messy lives. In various studies, the prevalence of HIV and other viral infections in prostituted women is mentioned [ 37 , 40 , 49 , 50 ]. In Cambodia, the HIV prevalence rate in prostituted women is between 13.9% and 17.4% [ 11 , 12 ].…”

“…Qayyum S et al., 2013, showed that prostituted women are ostracized from their families and relatives, and the society looks at them very scornfully, and the only thing that their customers want them is sex [ 40 ]. Other research shows a look of reproach at prostituted women in the society and denouncing their work, in which prostituted women are ostracized and marginalized [ 37 , 38 ].…”

Prostitution – The Dark Side Of The Sun

“…Some of these girls take on this occupation independently; however, the majority of them are accompanied by pimps, who are usually their own parents, husbands and other relatives. Pimps usually have a lion's share in the income of these prostitutes (Ramaiah, 2006). However, other professional pimps i.e.…”