Sex workers’ diverse interpersonal relationships are one key factor shaping their risk thus, understanding how women draw boundaries around their different relationships is critical to assessing health risks and developing interventions. 2010) and many women report engaging in unprotected sex with intimate partners more often than with their clients ( Ulibarri et al. Along the Mexico–USA border, HIV prevalence among female sex workers has been reported to be 5.3% ( Ulibarri et al. Worldwide, female sex workers have 13 times the odds of being HIV-positive compared with the general female population ( Baral et al. Related assumptions that women who engage in sex work are incapable of maintaining intimate relationships apart from their work imply that women are rendered powerless vis-à-vis pimps, managers, clients, partners and other men whose intentions are questionable at best and viciously exploitative at worst. Stereotypes prevail that female sex workers’ boyfriends, husbands and steady partners are ‘pimps’ who exert control over their lives ( Sterk 2000). While such characterisations accurately reflect some contexts of sex work, there is also a great diversity of social relationships within the sex industry ( Harcourt and Donovan 2005 Sterk 2000) that often gets lost in debates about the exploitation of women. The very mention of sex work or prostitution can evoke powerful images of vulnerable women being trafficked and controlled by violent male authority figures. Assumptions that all sex workers’ relationships are coercive and commercial marginalises these couples while leaving their health concerns unaddressed.įemale sex work is often perceived as women being controlled by men. Our discussion of these results considers the broader socio-political context surrounding these relationships and how changing gender roles, economic insecurity and stigma shape couples’ everyday social interactions. Qualitative analyses revealed that while most men avoided direct involvement in sex work, they offered advice that was largely driven by concern for their partner’s well-being. Only 10 women in the survey reported having a pimp, and the majority reported sole control over sex work decisions. Among 214 couples, the median age was 34 and relationship duration was approximately 3 years. We used surveys and qualitative interviews with female sex workers and their intimate partners in two Northern Mexico cities to examine couples’ own perceptions of their relationships and male partners’ involvement in sex work. Female sex work is often perceived as women being controlled by men.
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