Little is known about the structure and context of, and the risks encountered in, sex work in the United States. This community-based participatory research CBPR study explored female sex work and the feasibility of conducting a larger study of sex work within the immigrant Latino community in North Carolina.
Twelve abbreviated life story interviews were conducted with Latina women who sold sex, other women who sold sex to Latino men, and Latino men who hired sex workers. Content analysis was used to analyze narrative data. Themes emerged to describe the structure of sex work, motivations to sell and hire sex, and the sexual health-related needs of sex workers. Study findings suggest that it is possible to identify and recruit sex workers and clients and collect formative data within this highly vulnerable and neglected community; the prevention of HIV and STDs is a priority among sex workers, and the need for a larger study to include non-Latino men who report using Latina sex workers, other community insiders e.
Despite the high rates of use of sex workers by immigrant Latino men, little is known about the structure and context of sex work within the southeast, 9 a region experiencing the fastest Latino community growth rate in the country. This study was designed by our CBPR partnership to begin to fill this gap by exploring female sex work within the immigrant Latino community and assessing the feasibility of conducting a larger study of sex work.
Our CBPR partnership is composed of representatives from the local Latino community, public health departments, community-based organizations, and universities. After iterative dialogue initiated by Latino men partnership members who shared their observations and perspectives about sex work within the community and pointed to the limited existing partnership data that suggested that some Latino men use sex workers 4 , 8 , 15 and ongoing conversations with experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who were concerned about the high prevalence of STDs in the southeastern United States, we concluded that developing a better understanding of sex work within the Latino community was true to the spirit of the partnership despite the lack of a clear plan for how the data could be used.
A Latino partner noted:. We are worried about what we can do for Latina sex workers based on what we learn. But our fear should not take precedence over the potential to help these women.
