Drug-Using Sex Workers in the Streets of Valencia

Abstract

In order to characterize factors that affect sex work and their influence on risk practices, this ethnographic study carried out in a barrio in Valencia describes female sex workers who use illegal drugs, some who inject drugs and some who do not. A study conducted ten years earlier had shown that women in this setting who injected drugs had more irregular work habits, were less selective about their clientele, took more risks of HIV infection, and lowered their prices and lengthened their working hours when compared to women who did not inject drugs. The current study found most of these contrasts to continue, but, through observation and in-depth interviews, characterized drug-using female sex workers in terms of socioeconomic background and choice of drugs. In all cases, drugs had not motivated their entry into sex work as much as had intimate relationships. Choice of drugs appears to exert influence over risk as it occurs in sex work.