Jane Dodsworth is a Lecturer in Social Work at the University of East Anglia. She worked previously as the Inter-Agency Development Officer for Norfolk Area Child Protection Committee and is a former social worker with experience in residential care and in generic and child and family social work teams. She teaches social work practice skills to qualifying and post-qualifying social workers. Her current research interests are in child sexual exploitation and women involved in sex work, the analysis of Serious Case Reviews and the evaluation of the implementation of a web-based service to improve communication with and Abstract Drawing on a qualitative study exploring the stories of twenty-four women involved in sex work in the UK, this paper discusses whether it is possible to identify key risk and pro- tective factors influencing involvement. It argues that, although age at first involvement is an important factor in influencing outcome, so also are experiences of childhood and adult adversity. Early damaging experiences, which may increase the likelihood of invol- vement, also affect the ability to deal with the experience of sex work and simul- taneously 'manage' other life experiences. What is crucial in identifying who is likely to be the most vulnerable are the accumulation of risk factors in early childhood and the personal and ecological resources available to individuals across the lifespan to manage that pathway. How these factors are managed determines the degree of victim- hood or agency, vulnerability or resilience individuals perceive they have and the route taken through sex work as a consequence. The study identified three different groups of women who reported different pathways, reflecting different sources of support and coping strategies. This analysis suggests that there is a need to facilitate the provision of 'secure base' interventions for women involved in sex work, whatever their age, which have meaning for them.