The Subjective Experience of Social Stigma on Mental Health among Cisgender Women Sex Workers in Colombia

This qualitative and phenomenological study, through 16 in-depth face-to-face interviews and two discussion groups, elucidates the subjective experience of social stigma on mental health among 34 cisgender women sex workers in Colombia. After reflective and inductive thematic analysis of the data, two general themes emerged with their respective subthemes: (1) institutional stigma, insensitivity of healthcare providers, abuse of power by the police force, societal disapproval of the occupation, and unequal social treatment; (2) interpersonal stigma, language as a perpetrator of social stigma, family abandonment, conflict with work identity, and social isolation. A holistic approach is needed that addresses unmet needs and high vulnerability to deterioration of mental well-being due to social stigma against this group

Abandonment (legal · Mental health · Political science · Psychiatry · Qualitative research · Social stigma · Sociology · Stigma (botany · Thematic analysis · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health · Clinical Psychology · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk · Medicine · Psychology · Sex work and related issues · Social Psychology

• A quantitative study on female sex workers’ mental health in Germany

  Open Access•Franziska Kroehn-Liedtke, Olivia Kalinowski et al.•Frontiers in Public Health•2025

  Incluir item

• Morbidity and mortality in homeless individuals, prisoners, sex workers, and individuals with substance use disorders in high-income countries

  Open Access•Robert W Aldridge, Alistair Story et al.•The Lancet•2018

  Incluir item

• Sex-work harm reduction

  Open Access•Michael L Rekart•The Lancet•2005

  Incluir item

• How phenomenology can help us learn from the experiences of others

  Open Access•Brian E Neubauer, Catherine T Witkop et al.•Perspectives on Medical Education•2019

  Incluir item

• “I Don't Think This Is Theoretical; This Is Our Lives”

  Open Access•Greta R Bauer, Rebecca Hammond et al.•Journal of the Association of…•2009

  Incluir item

• Global health burden and needs of transgender populations

  Open Access•Sari L Reisner, Tonia Poteat et al.•The Lancet•2016

  Incluir item

• Alcohol Use Among Female Sex Workers and Male Clients

  Q Li, Li Q et al.•Alcohol and Alcoholism•2010

  Incluir item

• Associations between sex work laws and sex workers’ health

  Open Access•Lucy Platt, Pippa Grenfell et al.•PLoS Medicine•2018

  Incluir item

• Criminalisation of clients

  Open Access•Andrea Krüsi, Katheryn Pacey et al.•BMJ Open•2014

  Incluir item

• New directions in research on prostitution

  Open Access•R Weitzer•Crime Law and Social Change•2005

  Incluir item

• Socio-Demographic Characteristics and Behavioral Risk Factors of Female Sex Workers in Sub-Saharan Africa

  Open Access•F Scorgie, Matthew F Chersich et al.•AIDS and Behavior•2012

  Incluir item

• Can I use TA? Should I use TA? Should I not use TA? Comparing reflexive thematic analysis and other pattern‐based qualitative analytic approaches

  Open Access•Braun, Victoria Clarke•Counselling and Psychotherapy…•2021

  Incluir item

• Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (Coreq)

  A Jaure, A Tong et al.•International Journal for Quality…•2007

  Incluir item

• Purposive sampling

  Open Access•Steve Campbell, Melanie Greenwood et al.•Journal of Research in Nursing•2020

  Incluir item

• Attitudes towards sex workers

  Open Access•Benedikt P Langenbach, Andreas Thieme et al.•Frontiers in Public Health•2023

  Incluir item

• A continuum of risk? The management of health, physical and emotional risks by female sex workers

  Open Access•Teela Sanders•Sociology of Health & Illness•2004

  Incluir item

• A practical guide to reflexivity in qualitative research

  Open Access•Francisco Manuel Olmos‐Vega, Renée E Stalmeijer et al.•Medical Teacher•2022

  Incluir item

• To Report or Not to Report? A Systematic Review of Sex Workers’ Willingness to Report Violence and Victimization to Police

  Open Access•Pia Struyf•Trauma Violence & Abuse•2023

  Incluir item

• Sex work stigma and non-disclosure to health care providers

  Open Access•Ines Dourado, Mark Drew Crosland Guimarães et al.•BMC International Health and…•2019

  Incluir item

• The relationship between health worker stigma and uptake of HIV counseling and testing and utilization of non-HIV health services

  Laura Nyblade, Aditi Reddy et al.•AIDS Care•2017

  Incluir item

• Life story, prostitution and activism

  Open Access•Amanda De Mello Calabria•Global Public Health•2022

  Incluir item

• Validating a measure of anticipated sex work-related stigma among male and female sex workers in Kenya

  Open Access•Emmanuel A Oga, Melissa A Stockton et al.•Global Public Health•2022

  Incluir item

• Stigma as a Barrier to Mental Health Service Use Among Female Sex Workers in Switzerland

  Open Access•Mara Zehnder, Jochen Mutschler et al.•Frontiers in Psychiatry•2019

  Incluir item

• Mental Health and Functioning of Female Sex Workers in Chittagong, Bangladesh

  Open Access•Michael P Hengartner, Md Nazrul Islam et al.•Frontiers in Psychiatry•2015

  Incluir item

• Syndemic Factors and Resiliency Among Latina Immigrant Indirect Sex Workers in an Emergent Immigrant City

  Open Access•Suzanne M Grieb, Alejandra Flores-Miller et al.•Journal of Immigrant and Minority…•2018

  Incluir item

• Mental health challenges and perceived risks among female sex workers in Nairobi, Kenya

  Open Access•Mamtuti Panneh, Mitzy Gafos et al.•BMC Public Health•2022

  Incluir item

• I felt very small and embarrassed by the health care provider when I requested to be tested for syphilis”

  Open Access•Richard Muhindo, Andrew Mujugira et al.•BMC Public Health•2021

  Incluir item

• I dodged the stigma bullet’

  Cecilia Benoit, Renay Maurice et al.•Culture Health & Sexuality•2020

  Incluir item

• Mental health and related service use by sex workers in rural and remote Australia

  Tamara D Reynish, Ha Hoang et al.•Culture Health & Sexuality•2022

  Incluir item

• It is stigma that makes my work dangerous’

  Kahlia Mccausland, Roanna Lobo et al.•Culture Health & Sexuality•2022

  Incluir item

• Occupational stigma as a primary barrier to health care for street-based sex workers in Canada

  Lisa Lazarus, K Deering et al.•Culture Health & Sexuality•2012

  Incluir item

• I miss being honest’

  Paul Ryan, Kathryn Mcgarry•Culture Health & Sexuality•2022

  Incluir item

• The Role of Social Stigma in the Lives of Female-Identified Sex Workers

  Open Access•Alison L Grittner, Christine A Walsh•Sexuality & Culture•2020

  Incluir item

• Another Decade of Social Scientific Work on Sex Work

  Ine Vanwesenbeeck•Annual Review of Sex Research•2001

  Incluir item

• Health of people experiencing co-occurring homelessness, imprisonment, substance use, sex work and/or severe mental illness in high-income countries

  Open Access•Emily J Tweed, Rodney M Thomson et al.•Journal of Epidemiology and…•2021

  Incluir item

• Prevalence of Substance Use and Its Association with Sociodemographic and Behavioral Factors among Women Who Conduct Sex Work in Kenya

  Linnet Ongeri, Vincent Moshi et al.•Journal of Psychoactive Drugs•2022

  Incluir item

• Barriers and Enablers to Sex Workers’ Uptake of Mental Healthcare

  Open Access•Tamara D Reynish, Ha Hoang et al.•Sexuality Research and Social…•2020

  Incluir item

• Early Sex Work Initiation and Violence against Female Sex Workers in Mombasa, Kenya

  Open Access•Angela M Parcesepe, Kelly L’Engle et al.•Journal of Urban Health•2016

  Incluir item

• Relationships Between Stigma and Intimate Partner Violence Among Female Sex Workers Living With HIV

  Open Access•Amelia Rock, H Luz Mcnaughton Reyes et al.•Violence Against Women•2022

  Incluir item

• Trafficking, Client and Police Violence, Sexual Risk and Mental Health Among Women in the Sex Industry at the Thai-Myanmar Border

  Open Access•Michele R Decker, Sarah R Meyer et al.•Violence Against Women•2021

  Incluir item

• Strategies and Challenges in Preventing Violence Against Canadian Indoor Sex Workers

  Vicky Bungay, Adrian Guta•American Journal of Public Health•2018

  Incluir item

• Social Support, Exposure to Violence and Transphobia, and Correlates of Depression Among Male-to-Female Transgender Women With a History of Sex Work

  Tooru Nemoto, Birte Bödeker et al.•American Journal of Public Health•2011

  Incluir item

• Prostitution Stigma and Its Effect on the Working Conditions, Personal Lives, and Health of Sex Workers

  Cecilia Benoit, S Mikael Jansson et al.•The Journal of Sex Research•2018

  Incluir item

• The “Sociological Equation”

  Susan Strega, Leah Shumka et al.•The Journal of Sex Research•2020

  Incluir item

• Validation of a Brief Internalized Sex-work Stigma Scale among Female Sex Workers in Kenya

  Melissa A Stockton, John Kraemer et al.•The Journal of Sex Research•2021

  Incluir item

• Asking About “Prostitution”, “Sex Work” and “Transactional Sex”

  Open Access•Michael A Hansen, I Johansson•The Journal of Sex Research•2022

  Incluir item

• Sex Work and Mental Health

  Open Access•Elizabeth J Krumrei-Mancuso•Archives of Sexual Behavior•2017

  Incluir item

• Usage of the Terms Prostitution, Sex Work, Transactional Sex, and Survival Sex

  Open Access•Karen Mcmillan, Heather Worth et al.•Archives of Sexual Behavior•2018

  Incluir item

• Using thematic analysis in psychology

  Open Access•Braun, Virginia Braun et al.•Qualitative Research in Psychology•2006

  Incluir item

• Well, It Should Be Changed for One, Because It's Our Bodies

  Open Access•Cecilia Benoit, Mikael Jansson et al.•Social Sciences•2017

  Incluir item

• Sex work-related stigma

  Open Access•Martha S Ryan, Devaki Nambiar et al.•Social Science & Medicine•2019

  Incluir item

• Evidence or stereotype? Health inequalities and representations of sex workers in health publications in England

  Open Access•Nina Putnis, Jennifer Burr•Health An Interdisciplinary…•2020

  Incluir item

• How Many Interviews Are Enough

  Open Access•Greg Guest, Arwen Bunce et al.•CAM•2006

  Incluir item

• Conceptualizing Stigma

  Bruce G Link, Lexi Harari et al.•Annual Review of Sociology•2001

  Incluir item

• Stigma and sex work from the perspective of female sex workers in Hong Kong

  Open Access•William Chi-Wai Wong, William C W Wong et al.•Sociology of Health & Illness•2011

  Incluir item

• Stigma, sex work, and substance use

  Open Access•Cecilia Benoit, B Mccarthy et al.•Sociology of Health & Illness•2015

  Incluir item