title: The health of female sex workers from three industry sectors in Queensland, Australia
creator: Seib, Charrlotte
creator: Fischer, Jane
creator: Najman, Jackob M.
subject: 111714 Mental Health
subject: 111799 Public Health and Health Services not elsewhere classified
subject: 160100 ANTHROPOLOGY
subject: 160800 SOCIOLOGY
subject: Australia
subject: Women
subject: Sex work
subject: Sex industry
subject: Physical health
subject: Mental Health
subject: Illegal Sex Work
subject: Violence
description: Previous studies have reported poor mental health amongst sex workers without distinguishing the context in which commercial sex is provided. This study describes the self-reported mental and physical health of female sex workers in three industry sectors in Queensland, Australia. In 2003, cross-sectional convenience sampling was used to collect data from 247 female sex workers working in licensed brothels (n = 102), as private sole operators (n = 103) and illegally (n = 42). The average age was 32 years (range 18–57), with most participants being born either in Australia or New Zealand. Overall, there were few differences in the physical health of women from different industry sectors. Illegal (and predominantly street-based) sex workers were four times more likely to report poor mental health with some of this difference attributable to the particular social background of this group. Much of the increased levels of poor mental health among illegal sex workers were associated with more negative experiences before, and subsequent to entering the sex industry. These patterns were not seen among women from the legal industry sectors. This research suggests that illegal, street-based sex workers, from whom many previous results have been derived, may show patterns of disadvantage, and health outcomes not seen in sex workers from other industry sectors.
publisher: Pergamon - Elsevier Ltd
date: 2009-02
type: Journal Article
format: application/pdf
relation: https://eprints.qut.edu.au/17394/8/c17394.pdf
relation: DOI:10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.10.024
relation:    Seib, Charrlotte, Fischer, Jane,  & Najman, Jackob M.   (2009)    The health of female sex workers from three industry sectors in Queensland, Australia.  Social Science and Medicine, 68(3), pp. 473-478.    
identifier: https://eprints.qut.edu.au/17394/
rights: 2008 Elsevier Ltd.
rights: This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Social Science and Medicine. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Social Science and Medicine, 68(3), pp. 473-478 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.10.024
source: Faculty of Health