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Female Sex Workers’ Experiences of Violence and Aggression from Sexual Partners

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Handbook of Anger, Aggression, and Violence

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Abstract

Globally, cis-gender female sex workers (FSWs) bear a disproportionate burden of gender-based violence (GBV) with significant consequences on their physical and mental health and risk for mortality. A host of structural factors including norms that condone male violence against women, widespread criminalization of sex work, and lack of access to adequate support and healthcare pose formidable barriers for FSWs’ safety and well-being. There is an urgent need to develop violence prevention programs that recognize the complex factors that contribute to FSWs’ vulnerability while resisting viewing them as hapless victims but as agentic women that choose sex work for livelihood and make autonomous choices about their bodies and lives. This chapter presents a review of FSWs’ multifaceted exposure to violence from various sexual relationships and the impact of the violence on their overall health. Finally, this chapter underscores FSWs’ agency and the myriad strategies that they use to remain resilient in the face of adversity.

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Abbreviations

AIDS:

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome

CBOs:

Community-based organizations

CCTV:

Closed-circuit televisions

FSW:

Female sex worker

GBV:

Gender-based violence

HIV:

Human immunodeficiency virus

ICTs:

Information and communication technologies

NGOs:

Non-governmental organizations

PTSD:

Post-traumatic stress disorder

STI:

Sexually transmitted infections

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, Adelphi University, Garden City, NY, USA

    Subadra Panchanadeswaran

  2. School of Social Work, College of Behavioral and Community Sciences (CBCS), University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA

    Guitele J. Rahill

  3. School of Social Work, CBCS, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA

    Manisha Joshi

  4. Adelphi University School of Social Work, Centereach, NY, USA

    Seungju Lee

  5. Solidarity Foundation, Bangalore, India

    Shubha Chacko

  6. Department of Women’s and Gender Studies, Towson University, Towson, MD, USA

    Sel Hwahng

  7. Adelphi University School of Social Work, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA

    Amanda Greenfield

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  1. Subadra Panchanadeswaran
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  2. Guitele J. Rahill
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  3. Manisha Joshi
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  4. Seungju Lee
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  5. Shubha Chacko
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  6. Sel Hwahng
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  7. Amanda Greenfield
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Correspondence to Subadra Panchanadeswaran .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Clinical and Applied Health Research, University of Hull, Hull, UK

    Colin Martin

  2. King's College London, London, UK

    Victor R. Preedy

  3. University of Westminster, London, UK

    Vinood B. Patel

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Panchanadeswaran, S. et al. (2023). Female Sex Workers’ Experiences of Violence and Aggression from Sexual Partners. In: Martin, C., Preedy, V.R., Patel, V.B. (eds) Handbook of Anger, Aggression, and Violence. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98711-4_140-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98711-4_140-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-98711-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-98711-4

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