Share

Client violence towards prostitutes must be addressed

Violence by clients toward female prostitutes in different work settings: questionnaire survey

Half of prostitutes working outdoors and over a quarter of those working indoors routinely experience some form of violence by clients, according to a study in this week's BMJ. These levels of violence need to be addressed and reported attacks responded to more effectively, say the authors.

Researchers at Glasgow University contacted 240 female prostitutes; 115 worked outdoors and 125 worked indoors in saunas or flats in three British cities. They found that prostitutes working outdoors were younger, involved in prostitution at an earlier age, reported more illegal drug use, and experienced significantly more violence from their clients than those working indoors. Only 34% of prostitutes reported violence by clients to the police, and this was reported more often by prostitutes working outdoors than indoors.

Violence by clients towards prostitutes has seldom been the focus of public and academic interest, yet it is a major health issue, say the authors. Health services for prostitutes is an area that should be urgently addressed if levels of injury and death from violence by clients is to be reduced, they conclude.

Contact:

Dr Marina Barnard, Centre for Drug Misuse Research, University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK Email: M.A.Barnard@socsci.gla.ac.uk

Share

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.