“What will we do if we get infected?”: An interview-based study of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the health and safety of sex workers in the United States
Emerging evidence suggests that sex workers face unique and profound risks arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. To illuminate the pandemic's effects on sex worker health and safety and identify intervention opportunities, from May–August 2020 in-depth interviews were conducted with a purposive s...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2022-12-01
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| Series: | SSM: Qualitative Research in Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667321521000275 |
| _version_ | 1811184503071178752 |
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| author | Denton Callander Alicia Thilani Singham Goodwin Dustin T. Duncan Christian Grov Wafaa El-Sadr Mariah Grant R.J. Thompson Molly Simmons J. Leigh Oshiro-Brantly Krish J. Bhatt Étienne Meunier |
| author_facet | Denton Callander Alicia Thilani Singham Goodwin Dustin T. Duncan Christian Grov Wafaa El-Sadr Mariah Grant R.J. Thompson Molly Simmons J. Leigh Oshiro-Brantly Krish J. Bhatt Étienne Meunier |
| author_sort | Denton Callander |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Emerging evidence suggests that sex workers face unique and profound risks arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. To illuminate the pandemic's effects on sex worker health and safety and identify intervention opportunities, from May–August 2020 in-depth interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 15 sex workers, four service providers and two individuals who were both. Sampled sex workers included eight people of color, eight cisgender women, five cisgender men, three non-binary people, and one transgender woman. Using Conservation of Resources Theory to define impacts on sex worker resources and resulting health and safety implications, a deductive thematic analysis was conducted. Seven resources were threatened due to the pandemic: work opportunity, sex work venues, social support, health services, money, food, and housing. The loss of these resources was exacerbated by stigma – notably sex work criminalization – and significantly undermined health and safety by increasing food and housing instability, increasing risks of violence, and diminishing safer sex negotiation. Six resources were activated in response: social support, digital skills, health knowledge, non-sex work employment, money, and resilience. While social support had numerous benefits, investing digital skills and non-sex work employment were generally of limited impact. The pandemic's negative health and safety effects were most profound at the intersections of race, gender, class, and migration status. These findings suggest sex workers need urgent and ongoing support, with investments in social support and sex work decriminalization likely to have the greatest effects on health and safety relative to and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T13:13:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1251f442ccb647a39215c9021691aac7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2667-3215 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T13:13:18Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | SSM: Qualitative Research in Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-1251f442ccb647a39215c9021691aac72022-12-22T04:22:28ZengElsevierSSM: Qualitative Research in Health2667-32152022-12-012100027“What will we do if we get infected?”: An interview-based study of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the health and safety of sex workers in the United StatesDenton Callander0Alicia Thilani Singham Goodwin1Dustin T. Duncan2Christian Grov3Wafaa El-Sadr4Mariah Grant5R.J. Thompson6Molly Simmons7J. Leigh Oshiro-Brantly8Krish J. Bhatt9Étienne Meunier10Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia; Corresponding author. UNSW Sydney, Wallace Wurth Building, Level 6, Sydney, NSW, 2050, Australia.Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 W 168th Street, New York, NY, 10032, USADepartment of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 W 168th Street, New York, NY, 10032, USADepartment of Community Health and Social Sciences, CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, City University of New York, 55 W 125th St, New York, NY, 10027, USAICAP at Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 W 168th Street, New York, NY, 10032, USASex Workers Project, Urban Justice Center, 40 Rector St, New York, NY, 10006, USASex Workers Project, Urban Justice Center, 40 Rector St, New York, NY, 10006, USASex Workers Outreach Project Brooklyn, 1167 President St, New York, NY, 11225, USADecriminalize Sex Work, 360 Nueces Street, Austin, TX, 78701, USA; New York Transgender Advocacy Group, 215 W 125th St, New York, NY, 10027, USA; New York State Gender Diversity Coalition, 215 W 125th St, New York, NY, 10027, USADepartment of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 W 168th Street, New York, NY, 10032, USASociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 W 168thStreet, New York, NY, 10032, USAEmerging evidence suggests that sex workers face unique and profound risks arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. To illuminate the pandemic's effects on sex worker health and safety and identify intervention opportunities, from May–August 2020 in-depth interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 15 sex workers, four service providers and two individuals who were both. Sampled sex workers included eight people of color, eight cisgender women, five cisgender men, three non-binary people, and one transgender woman. Using Conservation of Resources Theory to define impacts on sex worker resources and resulting health and safety implications, a deductive thematic analysis was conducted. Seven resources were threatened due to the pandemic: work opportunity, sex work venues, social support, health services, money, food, and housing. The loss of these resources was exacerbated by stigma – notably sex work criminalization – and significantly undermined health and safety by increasing food and housing instability, increasing risks of violence, and diminishing safer sex negotiation. Six resources were activated in response: social support, digital skills, health knowledge, non-sex work employment, money, and resilience. While social support had numerous benefits, investing digital skills and non-sex work employment were generally of limited impact. The pandemic's negative health and safety effects were most profound at the intersections of race, gender, class, and migration status. These findings suggest sex workers need urgent and ongoing support, with investments in social support and sex work decriminalization likely to have the greatest effects on health and safety relative to and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667321521000275ProstitutionSARS-CoV-2Conservation of resourcesIntersectionalityThematic analysisDecriminalization |
| spellingShingle | Denton Callander Alicia Thilani Singham Goodwin Dustin T. Duncan Christian Grov Wafaa El-Sadr Mariah Grant R.J. Thompson Molly Simmons J. Leigh Oshiro-Brantly Krish J. Bhatt Étienne Meunier “What will we do if we get infected?”: An interview-based study of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the health and safety of sex workers in the United States SSM: Qualitative Research in Health Prostitution SARS-CoV-2 Conservation of resources Intersectionality Thematic analysis Decriminalization |
| title | “What will we do if we get infected?”: An interview-based study of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the health and safety of sex workers in the United States |
| title_full | “What will we do if we get infected?”: An interview-based study of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the health and safety of sex workers in the United States |
| title_fullStr | “What will we do if we get infected?”: An interview-based study of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the health and safety of sex workers in the United States |
| title_full_unstemmed | “What will we do if we get infected?”: An interview-based study of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the health and safety of sex workers in the United States |
| title_short | “What will we do if we get infected?”: An interview-based study of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the health and safety of sex workers in the United States |
| title_sort | what will we do if we get infected an interview based study of the covid 19 pandemic and its effects on the health and safety of sex workers in the united states |
| topic | Prostitution SARS-CoV-2 Conservation of resources Intersectionality Thematic analysis Decriminalization |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667321521000275 |
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