Title: Working Pattern and Mental Stress of Female Sex Worker
Authors: Dr Tonima Amir Haque, Dr Ashekur Rahman Mullick, Dr Irin Hossain
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v8i5.25
Abstract
Sex work is a major public health problem worldwide. According to World Health Organization, sex work is the provision of sexual services for money or goods. Women engaging in sex work may be exposed to serious health risks and exposure to highly stressful life events which may have long term implications on their mental health. This cross-sectional study was done in drop-in center ‘Swajan-33’ in Sylhet district within a period of one year among 105 respondents aged of 14 to 38 years of age to assess the association between their working pattern and mental stress. Data were collected by face to face interview through a pretested structured questionnaire. Perceived Stress Scale was used to assess the level of mental stress. Data collected from purposively selected respondents. The analysis of data reveals that among 105 participants about 45.7% started sex work at the age of 16-20 years, 56.2% of them did their job more than 3 days per week. Majority of the respondents 72.4%had customers less than 3 per day, Near about 49.5% choose this profession due to poverty, 59% had interest to do any other job or work, 43.5% reported that loan was the main obstacles to leave this profession, 89% were using condom during sex work and 66.7% were using other birth control methods (injectable contraceptive). About 53.3% of the respondents had no definite place to go for this work. The finding of this study showed that 85.7% were suffering from high perceived stress and 14.3% were suffering from moderate stress. Develop and promote programs that offer viable alternatives for women who want to leave sex industry and help them to find a new job may help them to lead a prosperous life.
Keywords: Working pattern, Mental stress, Female sex worker.
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